I Want To Save You
by Pandora's Box Is Heavy
Summary: He's inexperienced. She's unstable. They're both in high school and  facing something bigger than they've ever encountered. Love. No teen pregnancy, rape or drug abuse. Story is written entirely in EPOV. Updates every day until the end
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Hello ladies. My how I've missed everyone! I'm back in the saddle after my short break that was filled with a lot of writing. This story was written a long time before _Bella the Babysitter _but for some reason or another never got published. Sixteen chapters including the epilogue. I'm really busy at work lately but the new management allows me to have my laptop *thank you baby Jesus* :) soo I'm hoping to update every other day if my addicts allow it.**

**I've prewritten my version of a drabble that consists of 45 chapters and thanks to the wonderful duo that is V and Caitlin it's almost ready. I want to be done with this one before I upload it so I don't get confused. Hint hint, there's a countryward in it.. and he's oh so cute cause apparently I'm good with the fluffy shit. **

**I'm also working on another drabble that's sort of grabbed me and took over my brain in the span of twenty four hours. So yeah.. I have a lot going on in the FanFiction world. I hope you guys like this story.. cause it's short and I've grown a lot since writing it. Caitlin tried to clean it up and V helped me dust it off sooo yeah Enjoy  
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**Chapter One**

"Yo, Ed-man! Think fast!" I heard someone call from my far left before I saw a slim glass cylinder make its way towards my face. Without thinking I put my hands in front of my face in attempt to deflect it. Bad mistake.

The sound of shattering glass was followed by the room going completely silent. The current experiment was completely forgotten as Mr. Banner started barking out orders and instructions on proper lab safety.

"Dude, what the hell?**!**" Emmett, my lab partner and best friend since before kindergarten**,** whined as he took in the mess around us.

"You were supposed to catch it."

"How the hell was I supposed to know that I was supposed to catch the fragile glass coming straight at my head**, **you freaking douche bag?**!**" I yelled, clearly exasperated with his take on things. Emmett flexed his muscles and rolled his head before cocking his fist back to punch me, but the teacher had made an appearance wielding a broom and dust pan.

"Gentlemen calm down. Mr. McCarty, that will be seventy-two fifty and I want the check by Friday or you won't graduate this year. Understood?" Mr. Banner said as he meticulously swept up all the glass shards. "This is the last straw gentlemen. I've had enough of this nonsense. McCarty go work with Newton. Cullen you will be working alone."

"But sir-" both Emmett and I tried to protest**,** but it was no use.

"Now McCarty or I'll write you up**,**" he growled as he finished his sweeping. "Mr. Cullen your grades are good enough for you to work on your own for now. We have a new student arriving in a week or so. One of the elementary school teachers' daughter. We aren't starting dissections until after winter break so you should be fine."

Emmett threw his giant body around the room like a child as he made his way over to his new partner. Michael Newton was practically vibrating in his seat as Emmett sat down**,** and I couldn't contain my chuckle. Every time Emmett scooted five inches away from Mike, Mike would scoot six towards Emmett while they finished the lab experiment. If this continued, in no time flat, Newton would be sitting in the big bear's lap.

I on the other hand had to start all over working by myself. I still ended being one of the first people finished**, **so I cleaned up my work station, turned in the lab worksheet and rechecked my math homework that was due next period. The lunch bell rang and Emmett practically ran from the room like Road Runnerto get away from Mike Newton's freaky ass. I had to run to catch up with him**, **laughing my ass off the entire way.

"Dude, he has the hots for you**,**" I laughed breathlessly when I reached Emmett, who was just outside the cafeteria doors. "Wait till Rosalie hears about this."

"Dude, shut the fuck up**,**" he growled, punching my arm with enough force to almost knock me over. "At least I have people throwing themselves at me. You**,** on the other hand**,** are going to end up being a forty year old virgin, still living with mom and dad."

"Shut up," I snapped**,** walking into the cafeteria ahead of him. My arm throbbed from his punch**, **but I didn't show my discomfort. It would only make it worse. I had just made it to the lunch line when I felt a tiny person attach themselves to my back, but I chose to ignore them and act like I didn't notice the extra ninety pounds that was currently fittedto my body like a hiking backpack.

"EDWARD**!**" Alice screamed as she slapped me in the head a few times from her perch on my back.

Alice is my little sister, and she and I had a very close relationship. She was conceived weeks after I was born and born extremely premature after complications. She had fought for her life in the hospital and didn't come home until almost two months after my first birthday.

As a child she had a weak immune system and we were never allowed to play out in the snow or during pollen season together because it could be disastrous for her health. That led to our move to the always sunny Jacksonville, Florida when I was five. In truth, she gave bubble boy a run for his money up until the age of four and a half when she was given a clean bill of health. She was always small for her age, never having caught up with her growth, but she was Alice. We were inseparable from a young age and lucky enough to start kindergarten together because of our birthdays.

"What Alice?" I asked, chuckling, and walking to the lunch line with her still attached. A few students snickered at the sight, but no one said anything. She jumped down and hugged me from behind, squeezing all of the air out of my lungs. For someone so absolutely miniature, she was like an ant when it came to strength.

"I just wanted to say I love you big brother_,_" she squealed.

"What do you want?" I asked pulling a plastic tray out and filling it with enough food for the two of us to share. Whenever she wants something, she usually sucks up to me.

"Well, Jasper asked me to go out with him Saturday afternoon and I was wondering if you could cover for me with the 'rents?"

I could feel the pout without even having to look at her face. Being the miracle child that she was, Alice got away with murder. When she couldn't pull the 'I almost died before I was even born' card she brought out the heavy artillery: the pout. One pout and Alice got a Porsche for her sixteenth birthday. One pout and she got her own credit card. She knew the power of the pout and the effect it had on everyone.

"But you're grounded," I taunted.

"It's not my fault!" she retorted, stomping her foot like a child. "That cop was a bitch. Excuse me for trying to give her a few beauty tips."

"You told her she needed to wash her hair and buy some facial cleanser, Alice," I laughed. "Mom, Dad and I were surprised she didn't stun you with a Taser after that comment."

"Please Edward. I haven't gone out with Jasper in like… a week and a half," Alice whined, flitting around so that she could unleash her full on pout.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" I asked sarcastically. "An entire week and a half? The horror!"

"Shut up Edward! You don't know what it's like to be in love," she snapped, slapping my already hurt arm. I pursed my lips to hold back a whimper. "How about this? You tell mom and dad you need me to go with you to do some clothes shopping, because Lord knows your wardrobe could use the help, and I will find you a date for the day. Plus I'll pick you up a few things to keep up with appearances."

"Alice there's no way in hell I'm allowing you to find me a date," I said shaking my head. "Not after last time."

"How was I supposed to know that Jessica Stanley has a major crush on Mike Newton?" Alice asked sincerely. "Besides, you've only been on a handful of dates. How are you supposed to find _the one_ if you're not putting yourself out there?"

"Alice," I sighed**,** setting the tray on the counter before grabbing her shoulders and shaking her lightly. "I'm a senior in high school. I

don't need to find _the one_ right now."

"But-"

"No buts. We are in high school. Remember that" I replied, letting go of her. "I'll cover for you on Saturday if you let this go. I'll just go to Starbucks and use their Wi-Fi so that I can finish my English paper."

"Edward... you have to get a life," Alice said as she paid for our food and grabbed each of us a drink, lemonade for her and a canned iced tea with lemon for me. "You know your GPA isn't going to drop if you hang out for a weekend**...** without your text books."

"Yeah Ali, I know," I stated in finality, leading the way back to our table. Jasper, Emmett and Rose were already sitting down. Emmett packed his lunch and he always shared with Rose, whereas Jasper raided the vending machine in the senior hallway every day before coming to the cafeteria. He was paranoid that the lunch ladies spit in his food after he pissed them off during our freshmen year.

For as long as I could remember my friends have always paired up. Even before they officially started datingI could tell that they drifted to one another: Emmett with Rosalie, and Jasper with Alice. They never made me feel uncomfortable on movie nights or when the group went off to do things, but I did feel lonely when they left to do a double date or couple-like things.

I have tried and failed at any attempts of a love life. Alice told me I was being too picky, but I knew what I wanted. Someone that could hold a conversation with me that didn't involve the words 'like', 'um', and 'yeah', like Jane Volterra .Someone that liked me for me and wouldn't try to change me, like Lauren Mallory. And someone who wasn't in love with the school's weirdo, like Jessica Stanley was with Mike Newton.

Some would say I gave up too quickly, but after three horrendous dates I gave up and decided to just stick with what I knew. School was something I enjoyed. I liked learning new things every day. The kids were pretty cool and the cliques weren't like those on TV, where the jocks make the geeks' lives a living hell, or the band geeks were sex crazed teenagers that got caught in janitor's closet going at it_**.**_

Everyone lived relatively comfortably in their own skin. We knew everyone and gossip wasn't needed. You either liked someone or you didn't. That's justhow it was. I liked waking up in the morning on weekdays knowing that I would be taught a wide variety of new things that day, and enjoyed getting homework to take home.

I was the geek of our wholesome little group of five. Emmett was the athletic weightlifter, Jasper was president of student council and star track member, Rosalie was head cheerleader, Alice was the founder and president of the fashion/design club, and I was the bookworm. The five of us had a powerful friendship and we only grew closer as the years went on. But now my friends were inching away to do their coupling things more often, and I was starting to realize that one day I would be alone.

I tried not to let them know that deep down it hurt to know that Emmett and Rose were planning on getting an apartment together when we went off to college. Alice and Jasper were going to take a year off to travel the world before coming back for school, and I would be alone. I didn't let them see the part of me that dreaded life after graduation. They didn't know that I dreaded applying to the colleges I've dreamed of going to when I realized I would be attending them alone.

I listened to Emmett moan and groan about the fact that Rosalie was trying to learn to cook so she could be more independent once we all went off to college. He would whine about the stomach aches he got from the concoctions she fed him, but he would never tell her how truly disgusting some of her meals were because she was proud of her creations, and at the same time he was proud of her because he loved her. Part of me longed to have someone that would make me disgusting burnt cookies. I wanted to have to learn how to drop mouthfuls of food into a napkin sitting in my lap, like I had helped Emmett master a few months ago, so as to not hurt my girl's feelings.

Jasper would moan and groan about Alice's ability to shop literally until he dropped. While that wasn't anything new to me, seeing as I stood in as her packing mule on more than one occasion, I couldn't help the small bit of jealousy that sprung up when he cried about new blisters or the loss of circulation in his fingers from the amount of bags my sister forced him to carry. He confided in me one time that he would never gripe to her face because he loved to see her eyes light up and her smile take over her face when she found something she absolutely had to have. That smile was worth any torture to him. I wanted someone to force me to endure something I absolutely hated. I wanted to endure that task just to see a moment of her happiness. _I_ wanted to be the source of her happiness.

"So did you guys hear about the new student?" Rose asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. The entire table let out a collective 'no', except for me.

"Yeah, Mr. Banner told me she was going to be my new bio partner," I said, shooting Emmett an annoyed look. I was still annoyed with him for what happened, and I pray to God that the trouble we got into today didn't force me to endure the rest of the year with a sucky lab partner.

"Yeah, Coach Gloria had me help her pull out those physical education booklets for her. Apparently she can't participate in gym this year, so she will have to write essays. I feel sort of bad for her," Rose said sympathetically. Alice grabbed my hand as I was reaching for a fry to get my attention.

"What?"

"Things are about to change," Alice said with a huge smile of her face and a gleam in her eye. "I can feel it."

**you know you missed it **

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**See everyone I wasn't lying I really do plan on updating this story wicked fast. **

**Um.. I also realized yesterday that I had written this story back in August 2010. I've changed so much since then but I really wanted to put this up when I found it while I work on my other two stories. I'm glad everyone seems to like it I'm replying to all reviews but anonymous ones are difficult to so Thank you to everyone that's reviewing. I love feedback and I'm glad everyone seemed to miss me in my month and a half absence. **_**Enjoy**_

**Chapter Two**

_**One week later**_

The week had flown by quicker than I thought it would. Friday was the last day before school let out for winter break and we were all more than ready for the vacation. Alice was planning to drag me out Christmas shopping for the fourth time already because the last three times had been unsuccessful in her quest to find something spectacular for Jasper. I offered to drive to school today so that we could head straight to the mall instead of having to go home and now I was waiting for Alice to finish getting ready.

"We're going to be late you twit!" I called up the staircase as I twirled my keys around impatiently.

"School doesn't start for forty minutes and it takes ten to get there you idiot!" she called from the bathroom we shared.

"IF YOU'RE NOT DOWN HERE IN FIVE MINUTES SO HELP ME-"

"Edward Anthony, stop threatening your sister right this minute!" my mother scolded as she shoved a plate with two pieces of buttered toast and a bottle of orange juice into my hands. "Eat your breakfast. Now your father and I won't be home for dinner, so there's a casserole in the fridge. All you have to do is preheat the oven to 350 and just warm it up until the fried onions are crispy alright?"

"Yeah mom," I said, kissing her cheek before turning back to the stairs. "Ali come on! I have to turn in a library book before school starts."

"Alright, alright. I'm coming!" Alice answered, flitting down the stairs with ease, then standing on her tip toes to kiss our mother on the cheek as she was handed a piece of toast and a cranberry juice. "Love ya mom."

"Love you too sweetie. You too, Edward. Have a good day at school kids." She followed us to the door as she did every morning and waved as we pulled out of the driveway.

"So, today's a big day, eh?" Alice asked before we arrived at school.

"Big as in trekking across the mall serving as your own personal butler?" I joked, earning a slap to my right cheek. "Ow! What the hell Ali? I'm driving!"

"Someday you're going to admit that deep down inside you love our shopping excursions. And as excited as I am about shopping in Port Angeles, I was talking about the new girl. Today's her first day," Alice sang.

"And?"

"I told you I have a feeling about her," she whined.

"Is this your way of saying your psychic?" I asked earning another swat.

"I'm not psychic I just have really good intuition, and I'm intuitive to your boring life. The second that Rose brought up the new girl, I got gooseflesh," Alice said seriously. "What do you think that means?"

"Um, that there was a draft in the cafeteria… or someone walked over your grave?" I asked sarcastically. The smack that was issued for my smart mouth this time hurt worse than the others combined, but luckily we were already in the school parking lot so it didn't cause an accident.

"You're such an asshole, Edward Anthony!" Alice growled at me as she jumped out of the car and stomped her way to the entrance of the school. I had just gotten out of my car and grabbed my book bag when I heard her footsteps falter. "AND DON'T THINK THIS GET'S YOU OUT OF SHOPPING!" she screeched earning a couple of laughs from the few kids that arrived early. I've said it once.. the kids in this school were used to Alice's antics.

I ignored the embarrassment and walked towards the entrance of the library, flipping through the book I had borrowed last week to make sure there weren't any pieces of paper that belonged to me.

"Isabella, I know this is tough for you, but I'm sure you'll fit right in sweetie," a woman's calm voice soothed.

I stopped walking and looked over to find an older woman talking calmly to a pale, almost sickly looking, teenage girl. Her dark mahogany colored hair was pulled into a knot at the back of her head, looking as if it hadn't been brushed today, and her clothes hung on her body like curtains, hiding any hints of a figure. Her dark brown eyes looked sad and almost haunting as she stood staring at the woman talking to her while she balanced on one foot using crutches for support.

I concluded that 'Isabella' was the new girl since I've never seen her face before and no girl in school had a cast on her leg. New kids weren't very common around here, so a new face definitely stuck out for a while, and Isabella's face was definitely noticeable because behind the yellowing bruise on her left cheek, she was striking.

"Go on Isabella," the woman said gesturing to the entrance of the school.

I was frozen on the sidewalk, taking in their interaction. Isabella looked down at the ground, not making any motion to move as the woman pleaded quietly.

"I'm going to be late for work sweetheart. Please."

The doors of the library burst open and a couple of kids trickled out, causing Isabella to jump and look over, catching my eye. I offered her a kind welcoming smile, trying to hide the embarrassment of being caught staring, and was horrified by the glare I received. Hatred in its purest form stared back at me. I flinched and turned, shuffling into the library as quickly as I could to get away from the piercing stare.

With shaky hands I placed the library book in the drop box and hurried off to first period, glad for once that I didn't share the class with any of my friends. I sat in the middle of the first row as I did every day in English, waiting for the bell to ring and for class to start. I kept my head down looking over the project that was due today: a book report on the latest book we had read together as a class.

I had been looking over my words for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors when the door swung open unceremoniously, grabbing my attention. The new girl, Isabella, stood there attempting to hold the door open and at the same time shuffle inside using her crutches. Part of my brain told me to remain seated, that this girl already hated me enough that helping her would probably result in her shoving one of her crutches up my ass or down my throat.

But the other part, the part that was raised by Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen, the gentleman part, had me up and rushing over to the door to hold it open for her. She made no notion to thank me as she hobbled past me and towards the seat closest to the door. As she passed, I was engulfed with a mouthwatering scent of honeysuckle and rain. I fought the urge to talk to her as I closed the door and walked back to my desk.

Unable to focus on proofreading of my paper, I stared at the top of my notebook, trying to keep from looking over at Isabella. I failed more than a few times and each time I looked over, her head was bowed, staring at her slightly shaking hands that sat on the top of her desk.

She had a large bandage wrapped around her right wrist that looked to be dirty and stained as if it hadn't been changed recently. I watched as her eyes would close slowly and her head would lower towards her chest. Just before her chin touched she would startle awake and repeat the process tiredly as if she hadn't slept in days or weeks. The bell rang shrilly, causing the both of us to jump and gasp at the same time, before the door opened and students started filing in one by one. Mrs. Huggins called roll call, earning a 'present' or 'here' from each student until she reached the bottom of the list.

"Isabella Swan?" she called.

The entire class looked over to the new girl sitting in the front corner of the room. Her head was now lowered, her chin resting on her chest and her eyes closed.

"Isabella?" Mrs. Huggins called again. The boy sitting behind Isabella lightly kicked the back of her chair, and everyone watched as she startled awake, raising her still shaking hand.

"Are you alright Miss. Swan?"

Isabella made no attempt at talking, instead she nodded before returning her gaze to her hands sitting on the desk. Mrs. Huggins didn't even try to include the new girl into the class's conversation over our latest project.

My eyes would gravitate towards the girl every few minutes as different students talked about the complications they faced with writing their papers. She looked so tired, but was trying to stay awake, leaning her bruised cheek against her hand as she turned towards each student as they spoke.

"Mr. Cullen, did you have a problem with your paper?" Mrs. Huggins asked, diverting my attention from the silent girl a few rows away.

"Um... huh? No. No problems," I stammered, checking out of the corner of my eye and sure enough Isabella was staring at me the same way she had each of the other students.

Five minutes before class ended, Mrs. Huggins walked over to Isabella and whispered something to her. She then walked over and held the door open while Isabella hobbled out of the room.

When the bell rang, I rushed to my locker to grab my Economics book before heading to the one class I shared with my little sister. Entering the classroom my heart dropped when I realized my seat next to Alice at the table closest to the door was now occupied by Isabella Swan. Frowning, I sat behind the two, upset that Alice made no attempt to address me. Alice was bouncing in her seat as she talked extremely fast to the girl, who remained completely silent, only nodding or shaking her head a few times to indicate that she was on the same page as Alice. The warning bell rang and Jasper slid inside the classroom right as Mr. Bush came out of his office. Jazz looked around until he noticed me, sending a wink to Alice before sitting down in the spot beside me.

"Someone stole your spot Ed?" he whispered as Mr. Bush called the attendance.

"Yeah, it's alright," I mumbled, partially glad that I didn't have to sit in my assigned seat today. "Alice can torture someone else for a change."

"Shut it Eddie," Alice hissed from in front of me.

"Or what?" I jested.

"Or I'll make you go into Victoria's Secret with me to pick something out for Rose's Christmas present, that's what," she growled, immediately shutting me up.

I had ventured inside that store once, and _only_ once, and never plan on going in there again. Alice thought it was hilarious how the female workers swarmed me asking if I needed assistance, while I stammered and practically ran out of the entrance. She jokes that she found me an hour later sucking my thumb in the food court, when really I was in the Apple Store checking out a new iPod. Her word against mine.

I noticed Isabella's shoulders shake slightly with silent laughter at our small banter, and I smiled at the thought of making her happy. This was the first time Isabella looked remotely happy, or even the first time she actually showed emotion, today.

Like in English, Isabella was dismissed five minutes before everyone else, and when the bell rang, I rushed to Spanish to meet up with Rose. Hoping that because Isabella seemed mute she wouldn't be in an elective that was based solely on rolling R's and conversing with the other students, I was clearly disappointed when I saw that she was sitting beside Rose in the back corner next to the exit of the classroom. Sighing, I sat on the other side of Rose.

"'Sup Ed?" she asked, then motioning to Isabella. "Have you met Isabella yet?"

"N-no I haven't," I stammered nervously, waiting for another death glare from the aforementioned. Surprisingly she looked my way and gave me a kind smile. At least it wasn't another death glare, so I gave a small smile back.

Spanish blew by quicker than I thought, and before I knew it, I was watching Isabella walk out of the class room. Sighing, I stood up and gathered my things slowly once I realized what class I had next. Rose smiled wickedly at me as we separated, me off to the science building, her to study hall.

"Have fun with your new biology partner, Edward," she said with a wave. "I'm sure you'll have loads to talk about."

_Great_

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	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Highlow my lovelies :) Keeping my promise.. updates will be at least every other day so long as I can help it :) Enjoy and try not to be too hard on Bella she's been through a lot  
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**Chapter Three**

Emmett was waiting for me at the entrance of the science building with a cheesy ass smile on his fat face.

"Hello Eddo!" he called boisterously, even though I wasn't but five feet away from him. "You ready for some Biology bullshit?" He then proceeded to slap his knee laughing madly at his attempt at a joke.

"We aren't doing anything today Emmett. If anything, Banner will turn on a movie and let everyone talk quietly," I said rolling my eyes. "I'm sure Mike will want to talk friendly with you." Emmett scrunched up his face in annoyance, pissed that I brought up Newton.

"Well at least my partner speaks ass face," he defended, punching me in the arm. He was really starting to get quite violent with me. The bruise he'd given me a week ago throbbed painfully at the contact, but I refused to show any reaction. "From what I've heard Isabella Swan is a mute."

"It's her first day, you dumb ass. She probably just needs some time to adjust." I opened the door to walk inside but he pushed me aside so that he could enter first. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot my manners. Ladies first," I teased.

"Shut the hell up!" Emmett growled.

We entered the classroom that was already full and I shyly made my way to my desk that was now occupied by one silent girl and two crutches. Isabella paid no attention to me as I sat down on my stool and pulled my text book out of my bag.

I allowed myself one quick glance towards the girl sitting on my right, and found her half asleep yet again. Her face a shade paler than it had been this morning, making the dark circles under her eyes look a tad darker. I tried to be quiet as I flipped open my book so I wouldn't disturb her, when the door slammed shut, revealing Mr. Banner in his bald headed glory. Isabella jumped slightly, almost falling off of her stool but was able to catch herself.

"Good afternoon class," Mr. Banner greeted, then looking over to Isabella. "And welcome to Biology, Miss Swan."

Isabella nodded once in acknowledgement, but made no attempt to smile or answer the greeting with words. Her hands weren't shaking anymore, but she fiddled with a worn silver bracelet on her left wrist nervously.

"Well..." Mr. Banner said nervously, turning to the TV stand. "Today we are going to watch a movie. Cullen if you could talk Miss. Swan through the last chapter, we have a test on Friday before we leave for winter break that I want her prepared to take with the rest of your classmates."

"Yes sir," I coughed nervously.

I could hear Emmett laughing from his seat, but I ignored him.

The lights went dim and the movie started, but Isabella remained in the state she had been before class started. I cleared my throat to get her attention and watched her head turn slightly towards me. I took that as a sign that she would listen to what I had to say, so I flipped towards the beginning of the chapter and scooted the book towards her so we could both use it.

"I'm Edward Cullen," I blurted out softly, feeling the sudden need to introduce myself. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My little sister talks enough for the both of us."

Bella nodded once but didn't reply. Instead she looked down at the text book without a hint of interest. Her brown eyes were blurry, but focused on the diagram, and yet she made no attempt in understanding it. I pulled my folder out and started reading the notes I had taken from the past two weeks lectures as quietly as I could until I flipped the page and realized that she was now asleep. Her chin rested in a cradle she had formed by folding her arms together.

I shut my binder quietly and turned my attention to the movie trying to get the gist of what it was about. About twenty minutes into the movie, I felt the lab table move just a little and realized that Isabella was the cause of the disturbance. She was moving softly and murmuring something I couldn't hear. I tried to focus on the movie but she gradually got louder and louder until I could understand everything she was saying.

"Jake… Please... Wake up… Pl-… Vanessa... Hear me… Help... Help..."

I turned around and realized that no one else could hear her over the movie until she started to scream.

"BLOOD, OH GOD THE BLOOD! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Without thinking I grabbed her shoulder as Mr. Banner cut the lights on probably thinking someone was being murdered in his classroom. As soon as my hand touched the bare skin of her arm she jerked awake and fell off of her stool hitting the floor with a loud thud and yelped out in pain.

"Oh god! Are you okay?" I asked jumping up. It didn't even cross my mind that she didn't like anyone in her personal space until I started to reach towards her in an attempt to help her to her feet. Her entire body shook so I started to pull away until her frail hands shot out and grabbed mine. I gasped as I felt her ice cold fingers wrapped around my hands.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "Isabella?"

"What's going on back there Mr. Cullen?" Mr. Banner asked, his voice full of authority as he took in Isabella's shaking form on the dirty floor. "What happened?"

Isabella shot me a pleading look so I took matters into my own hands.

"It was an accident. She got distracted by the movie and I touched her shoulder to get her attention back on the chapter we were discussing and it scared her. She fell off her stool in surprise," I explained, hopefully making it sound believable.

"Do you need to go to the clinic, Miss. Swan?" Mr. Banner asked.

Isabella nodded, pulling on my hands at the same time, so I helped her stand up, me handing her her crutches. She picked up her back pack and slung it on her back before limping out of the room. I was royally confused with the entire encounter and felt the need to rush after her.

"Mr. Banner, it's my fault she's hurt. I think I should go make sure she makes it to the clinic in one piece," I offered desperately, and without permission gathered my belongings and ran out of the room desperate to find her. I couldn't see Isabella anywhere, and I knew that unless she had super speed, she was still somewhere in the science building.

Slowly I walked down the hall looking in every nook and cranny for her, until I reached the bathrooms. I could hear someone silently talking, and at first I thought that they were talking to themselves and that they were crazy. Tentatively I pushed the door of the girls' bathroom open just a smidge and peeked inside, my heart breaking at the sight of Isabella Swan's broken form crouched down beside the sinks. She had a cell phone pressed to her ear as she leaned against the pale pink wall.

"Please, mom. I can't do this," she pleaded. "I tried really, I did." There was a long pause and she squeezed her eyes shut. "Can't you just get someone to cover your class for thirty minutes? What if you called the school and told them I could walk home?" She paused again. "I'll walk," she replied, a sob erupting from her throat.

Without realizing my actions I pushed the door open the entire way and entered the girls lavatory. Isabella's sad tired eyes met mine and I watched fear run through her body at the prospect of getting in trouble for being on her cell. I gave her a warm smile before sitting across from her on the dingy floor. She didn't return the smile, but instead pulled her good leg up and rested her head heavily against it.

"I had another nightmare last period. If you don't call the school, I'm going to walk off campus and possibly get in trouble for skipping," she said with finality in her tone, snapping her phone shut harshly.

We were quiet for a few minutes, the only sounds in the room were our breathing, mine calm, hers short and panicky, and the annoying dripping faucet of one of the sinks. She didn't make eye contact with me, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was exhausted, and from what I gathered in her conversation, she suffered from nightmares about people named Jake and Vanessa, and that wasn't the first time either. I was afraid she was going to fall asleep on the floor of the bathroom, and I knew the bell was about to ring, so we wouldn't be alone for long.

I scooted closer to her without touching her and spoke softly, "I can give you a ride home if you want Isabella." She shifted her head that was still resting on her knee and mumbled something, but I couldn't understand what she said, and at first I thought she was possibly talking in her sleep again.

"Isabella? You don't want to sleep on this floor. Trust me, the janitors don't mop frequently," I attempted to joke. "I'll give you a ride home that way you don't have to walk, or, uh, crutch."

She then spoke louder, "It's just Bella."

"Bella."

"I can't ask you to do that. You don't even know me and you could get in trouble," she murmured, wiping her nose on a paper towel that she had crumpled in her hand, but still refused to look over at me.

"You're right. I don't know you. But I'm sure you're pretty sore from that fall, and it was my fault, so come on," I said, standing up and offering her a hand.

Bella shook her head defiantly. "I can't ask you to get in trouble for me. Thank you anyway. I'll just walk or wait for my mother."

"That's crap," I sighed. "Because I have lunch next period and we as seniors have the option to leave campus. I'm sure they informed you of that when you enrolled. So we could walk off the campus in..." I checked my watch, "...three minutes and no one will care. So enough excuses. Come on."

With an agitated sigh, she placed her small hand in mine and allowed me to help her to her feet for the second time today. As soon as she was upright, I quickly handed her her crutches and grabbed her backpack, slinging it over my shoulder. She gave me a questioning look.

"It's so you can't run off. I have collateral," I said, shrugging.

I followed her out of the school, questioning my actions. I didn't know this girl other than her name and the few things I had heard around school since we found out she was coming. Yet I was offering to take her home when it was obvious she wasn't emotionally _there_. We made it to my car with no incidents and I informed Bella that we only had to wait a minute before we could leave undetected. I started the car and turned the air condition on so we didn't suffocate in the heat, awkwardly fumbling with the radio controls.

_Girls like music right? What if she likes pop? Or worse, country?_ I wracked my brain as the opening cords of Placebo's 'Drag' began and watched as Bella's hand shot out to turn off the radio.

"Sorry. I, uh, don't really like music," she explained, her cheeks flushing. She was beautiful when she blushed. The bell rang, and, as if on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket with a text from Emmett wondering where I was. I ignored it and pulled out of the parking lot. A minute or so passed, and I realized I had no idea where I was going.

"Um, I just realized that I have no idea where you live," I stated.

"At the first red light, take a left," Bella instructed softly before reverting back to silence. The rest of the twenty minute ride was silent other than her soft voice instructing me when and where to turn. As we got closer to her house, I was glad that I had ran after her because it would of taken her forever to hobble all the way home from the school on her crutches. I could tell that she was shaking again, her hands grasping the fabric of her pants tightly, and her eyes were closed, only opening every minute or two so that she could give me another instruction.

"It's the blue house on the right, with the bright yellow shutters," her voice cracked. Not knowing what to say, I just nodded and pulled into the driveway of a Smurf blue house with florescent yellow shutters. The house was a bit small, but you could tell that a very fun person lived inside. I turned the car off and shot a quizzical look towards Bella, who was now looking at me, her eyes blurry with exhaustion.

"My mom's a nut case," she shrugged before quietly adding, "Probably worse than me." Knowing the last bit wasn't intended for my ears, I got out of the car and grabbed her bag and crutches before opening her door for her. She stumbled to keep her balance, blushing for the second time today. And for the millionth time she surprised me.

"Do you want to come inside? I can make you a sandwich since you missed lunch to bring me home," she asked, her already pink face growing a shade darker, and her brown eyes hopeful.

"Sure. I could eat," I answered. I remembered the two slices of buttered toast that I had tossed out of the window this morning on the way to school, and my stomach growled. I followed her inside and straight towards an equally fun kitchen. It smelled like chocolate, vanilla and baked goods and was impeccably clean; the countertops a bright green that clashed with the hot pink cabinets and orange walls. Bella must have seen my expression.

"Like I said, my mother is nuts," she said, pulling a loaf of bread out of the bread box and opening the fridge. "Is egg salad alright? I just made it yesterday."

"That's fine," I replied, nodding, a little bit nervous being alone in a girl's house. A girl that was breathtaking, that confused the hell out of me. A girl that looked so utterly broken one minute and then close to normal the next.

Within minutes we were sitting in her living room, me eating the best egg salad sandwich I had ever tasted. She didn't talk as she picked at the bread of her sandwich and made no move to turn the TV on. After I finished my sandwich and she hadn't taken but two bites of hers, she excused herself to use the restroom, asking me to stay until she came back out so she could lock up behind me. I nodded in understanding.

I carried our plates into the kitchen and sat them beside the sink before walking around the living room. The mantle was covered with small trinkets and other homemade odds and ends that Bella had clearly made in her youth. A hand painted coffee cup that looked to be of broken ceramic, and then glued back together haphazardly, held a bouquet of flowers made of intricately folded pieces of construction paper.

There was a small house made entirely of Popsicle sticks and a framed hand turkey drawing sat in front of another picture. I allowed curiosity to get the best of me and scooted it aside curious to see what it was, and was surprised with what I saw. The picture was marked in the corner that it had been taken last December. An exuberant Bella was sitting on top of a mound of snow with a bright smile. To her right was a tall, dark skinned girl of Native American descent, smiling as she placed a kiss on Bella's cheek. Next to the girl was a large muscled boy smiling wickedly as he secretly held up bunny ears behind the girl's heads. All three of them had snow clumps in their hair and dripping off of their jack-

My train of thought was cut off by Bella's screech, making me jump a bit at the pitch of her voice.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Her voice was cold, void of any emotion other than pure hatred. It caused me to jump again and knock over the picture of the turkey.

"I-I was j-just looking," I stammered out, attempting to right the pictures, but my hands were shaking so badly I only managed to cause further damage at rectifying. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she shook on the verge of a panic attack.

"Get out," she croaked.

"Bella, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry," I said trying to take a step towards her. She moved backwards, breathing heavily.

"I said get out. GET OUT!"

Sighing I grabbed my car keys and made my way out the front door. Before I could shut the door, I heard her sobs carry throughout the house. I was too shell shocked to go back to school, so instead I drove home and crawled into my bed. Sleep didn't come right away so I thought about everything that had happened today.

In one day my life had changed. Books, learning and school were the farthest things from my mind at the moment. Instead I now longed to make everything that was wrong in Bella Swan's life right. I wanted to see her smile again like she had in that picture. There was a part of me that wanted to love her, and for her to love me back, but a larger part that just wanted her to be happy swallowed the feeling.

I felt wetness on my cheeks and I realized I was crying, something I rarely did. I had ruined any chance of being able to do any of that. She had made it clear when she caught me snooping. I prayed before I fell asleep that I would find a way to make it better the next day at school.

My family only bothered me once that night to inform me that dinner was ready, but I couldn't eat. Instead I slept restlessly and woke up three hours early for school, showing up an hour before the bell rang. I sat leaning against the library in hopes that I could catch her before school started, to try to make things right.

I readied myself for rejection. She could spit in my face for being a nosy asshole, or tell me that she never wanted to see my face again. But all of my preparing was in vain.

Bella Swan didn't come to school for the rest of the week.

**See yah next time ;)**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Keeping up with the every other day updates feels good to be back in the game.**

**Thanks Caitlin and V for talking me down from my suicidal midstory crisis I really appreciate it. **

**Time for some sibling bonding :) Enjoy ladies  
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**Chapter Four**

Christmas break was in full swing, yet my melancholy mood hadn't phased into something of feeling good and jolly about the holiday spirit.

Alice spent the first three days hogging all of Jasper's time before he took off with his family to visit his grandparents in Texas, but the second he was gone, she focused all of her attention on me. Scratch that, she focused all of her torturing on me. I would have been perfectly fine spending the vacation in my warm bed worrying about Bella Swan, and warring with the guilt that practically seeped from me. She hadn't made it back to school after her first day and there was no one to blame but myself. I drove past her house once... twice... okay, four times a day, but I didn't have the guts to knock on the door, even when I saw the bright green Volkswagen bus with elaborate sixties daisies and other _groovy_ embellishments painted all over it, even the hubcaps, parked in the driveway.

Evidently, I had caused a mass disturbance in Bella's life with my nosy ass snooping, and refused to move past it, or get over it, until I saw her. I wanted to know if she was okay, but most of all I just wanted to see her.

I hardly slept at all. I started taking over-the-counter sleep medication after a few days of troublesome tossing and turning in the middle of the night, but gave up on that attempt after nightmares began plaguing the little sleep I was managing to survive on. I knew I was worrying my parents, and had spent a large part of the time that I wasn't moping in my bedroom assuring them that I was fine.

The day before Christmas Eve, Alice decided that she had had enough of my attitude. After being awake for almost four days straight, my body sort of shut down, and I was enjoying a small bit of restless sleep, when a small body jumped onto my bed and landed straight on my chest.

"Ooomph," I gasped out, attempting to sit up, but the weight was too much to handle for my exhausted form.

"Come on Edward!" Alice sang out as she bounced on top of my chest. "We have less than fourteen hours to finish our Christmas shopping."

"I'm finished. Everyone is getting gift cards from me."

I groaned at the prospect of spending thirteen hours and fifty nine minutes shopping with my little sister.

"Don't frigging think so, Mr. Mopey-Pants," she said in a sing-song voice, pinching my cheeks. "Gift cards are something you get your Secret Santa, not the people you love. Let's go!"

"I really don't want to Alice," I answered, finally managing to push my sister off of me. Alice squeezed her way up next to me, resting her chin on my shoulder. She looked at me apprehensively.

"What's bothering you big brother? You've been down in the dumps since last Monday."

"Nothing, I'm fine," I replied in a robotic tone, earning a hard slap to my chest. I cringed in pain. It seems I'm getting beat up a lot lately.

"That's bullshit and you know it, Edward! Does it have to do with the new girl?" Alice wondered.

I rolled over so that I was on my side and caught her staring at me. Her large hazel eyes were clouded with concern, and I warred with myself whether or not to tell my sister, and my closest friend, everything that had occurred. My face must have given away something because Alice sat up crossing her legs Indian style beside me and took my hand.

"I figured it had something to do with her," she sighed out. "She acted a bit strange every time I saw her, so I did some research."

"Wait. Research?" I asked, sitting up, confused by her words.

"Yeah, I found out where she was from and looked up some other things online. Did she say something about her past when you took her home that day?"

"Not exactly," I said, attempting to straighten myself up a little before I spilled out the entire day's events. Alice listened with intense interest as I recounted everything, from the Biology incident when Bella had her nightmare, to dropping the framed picture of the hand drawn turkey and her screaming at me to get out of her house.

"I just want to know if she's okay. I want to help her Alice. I just want her to be happy," I finished, my voice nothing but a soft whisper.

"Oh, Edward," Alice breathed, pulling me into a tight hug. "It's not going to be easy; she's been through a lot from what I've learned. She l-"

"No, I don't want to know," I said, almost kicking myself for doing so. "I want her to tell me, if she'll even speak to me after what I did."

"She will," Alice simply stated before tumbling off the bed, a soft thud as the only sign that she had hit the floor. "I told you things were going to change. Now look at you. All sad and moping around because you messed up with your first crush."

"I don't have a crush on her Alice," I lied.

Over the past few days the concern I held for Bella's happiness, and the need for her to forgive me, had transformed. Instead of wanting to be her friend, I wanted a relationship with her, like what Alice shared with Jasper, what Rose shared with Emmett and, most of all, like what my parents have.

"Sure, Edward. And I don't like chocolate covered coffee beans," she huffed out sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Get up, we're going shopping whether you like it or not."

"Alice!" I whined.

"Edward," she growled. "Spending your entire vacation holed up in your bedroom is boring and just sad. I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee for the drive, and if you're lucky, I'll make you one, too," Alice said, smiling widely as she walked to the door, throwing it open before turning back to me. "And take a shower. There's no way I'm riding around with you smelling all rank and shit."

"I don't want to go Alice!" I yelled out, even though she was gone and probably could not hear me. I sighed in defeat as I stood up and grabbed a towel before hitting the shower.

Alice had been shopping for Christmas gifts since May, yet the day before Christmas Eve she realized she needed more gifts for almost everyone in the family. She had dragged me around the entire mall, twice I might add, finding gifts for everyone, including our Denali cousins that were coming down from Alaska for Christmas dinner.

Tanya, Kate and Irina were my mother's sister, Carmen, and her husband, Eleazar'striplets. They were two years older than me and never let me forget it, but they were really fun to hang out with. Alice thought it was cute to buy the three of them matching things because of the fact that they were identical. Three sets of platinum blond hair, all three cut short in a bob. Three sets of icy blue eyes framed with designer glasses because all three had received their father's poor eyesight. And three athletic bodies that were a part of every sport that their Alaskan high school had to offer, with the capability of beating the shit out of me without the help of one another. They were about as girlish as I was and that annoyed Alice to no end.

Alice had started spending Thanksgiving down in Texas with Jasper because she hated the fact that Kate, Irina and Tanya spent the entire day sitting in front of the television next to my father, Eleazar and myself as we screamed for our favorite football teams.

"Alice, I'm telling you... the girls aren't going to like these," I offered, pointing to the three manicure/pedicure sets, one pink, one blue, and one sea foam green, neither of which would ever be put to use. In fact, Tanya had informed me that they usually just re-gifted the things that Alice gave them, or the items sat in a closet never to be spoken of again. "We should just go into Modell's and pick up a few jerseys and a new basketball so we have something to do before dinner."

"Shut up Edward! You know nothing about girls," Alice huffed.

"Yeah, because the Triple D's are about as girly as Emmett is after a weightlifting meet," I joked, using Emmett's nickname for the triplets that he had come up with all on his own a few summers ago, despite the fact that he had bigger boobs than the three of them put together.

"Whatever. A girl can try. I mean, how do they ever plan to date if they look like dykes?" Alice asked, scanning a shelf of lotions. It was then that I realized we were standing in Bath and Body Works. For the third time today. I was about to bring up that point when Alice threw a basket of body washes at me, informing me that it was my gift to Carmen and that we were done for the day.

"The only thing we have left to do now is grab some supplies so that we can wrap all of this stuff," Alice said, smiling happily as she handed her credit card to the woman behind the counter.

"God damn it Alice!" I growled out in frustration as I squeezed my finger revealing another small paper cut just under the cuticle. "That's it! Why the hell didn't we just pay to have them done at the mall?"

"Because this is part of the experience. Duh!" Alice replied, rolling her eyes and handing me another Band-Aid before turning back to her wrapping. "How else will we bond?"

"Oh I don't know. A snowball fight… hot chocolate..."

Snow and cold weather jokes were a common thing for our group seeing as there was never any snow and the cold weather didn't last very long in Florida.

"Wait! Since when have we ever had issues with bonding time?" I asked, grabbing another roll of wrapping paper and carefully unrolled a bit. "We're together all the time."

"Well, your mopey ass hasn't been around for almost two and a half weeks, thank you very much. Tomorrow is all about family, so I'll more than likely be in the kitchen helping mom prepare dinner while you and dad set up the spare bedrooms. The Triple D's are going to be here after that and your entire focus will be on them and their ability to dunk a basketball, or some shit like that, so where do I fit in?"

"Are you forgetting the fact that you're going to wake me up bright and early the day after Christmas to do even more shopping? They will be gone before we even get back," I argued.

"Fine Edward!" Alice huffed out, smacking me upside the head with an empty wrapping paper roll. "Go and lay in your bed, moaning about Bella Swan, and the fact that you think you blew everything, like a little bitch. I'm sorry that I was trying to spend some quality time with you before Christmas."

I immediately tried to back track knowing that I had hurt Alice's feelings. "Ali. I'm so-

"Edward likes Bella Swan?" a bemused voice asked from behind me.

I turned around to find my dad standing there in the doorway, still in his hospital scrubs and white doctors coat, smiling at us. Alice immediately started screeching at him about trying to peek at the presents, even though we were only wrapping the things she had chosen for the Triple D's. I had snuck into Modell's and picked them each out a jersey of their favorite football players; all three of them favoring three different teams.

"How do you know Bella Swan?" I asked casually as Alice threw her body on top of the presents in an effort to hide them.

"She came into the office yesterday to get fitted for a walking cast. Poor thing is pretty clumsy from what her file said, and it didn't help that she has been using crutches for the past three weeks or so. From what I hear, Forks, Washington is really rainy, so I could imagine how difficult it was for her getting around," he chuckled out with no humor. "The funny thing is that she never mentioned you, Edward."

My heart fell into my stomach, making me want to vomit with the amount of guilt that poured over me like a bucket of ice water.

"Well I just gave her a ride home from school the other day. Alice blows things out of proportion," I answered, managing to act nonchalant, waving off the entire conversation in hopes that they would leave it alone.

"Is that true?" Carlisle asked, running a hand through his blond hair.

"Yep. Edward's not into girls," Alice said, shrugging without missing a beat. Could my life get any worse at this moment?

"Oh, well that's his decision, Alice. Your mother and I love the both of you just the same, no matter what decisions you make." He gave me a supportive smile before turning and walking out of the room.

Apparently it could get worse.

I threw the bag of bows at Alice's face as she stood up. Her face fell as she stared down at an item.

"Oh no, Edward!" she cried, picking up a small box. "I broke mom's glass rose. We have to run out and get another one immediately."

Apparently when it rains, it fucking pours. And not just in Forks, Washington.

"Well as payback for the gay joke, you can go by yourself, Gidget. Get the hell out!" I snapped, placing a piece of scotch tape over her mouth to keep her from talking.

_Ahh! Silence for once._

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	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Chapter Five**

"I swear to God, if you don't get the fuck out of the shower I'm going to bust in there and take a picture of your one-on-one time with Mary Palmer and her five sisters, and email it to everyone at your school, Edward Cullen!" The beating on the door continued as did the more lethal threats.

"If you don't stop spanking your monkey it's gonna fall off, douche bag! I read about it in a health magazine!" Irina screamed out as she pounded and kicked at the door.

You're probably thinking I've been in the shower for an hour and a half, and that I've deduced myself to something as low as masturbation while my family is in town for Christmas. That's not what's going on.

See, Alice and I share the third floor of the house, two large bedrooms on each side of the hall and two smaller guest rooms on the right of those large rooms. My mother being the awesome woman that she is, decided to knock down the wall separating our bathrooms from one another to create a giant bathroom, complete with 'his' and 'her' sinks. It's been fine since she decided on that renovation. Alice showers after I do because she takes forty-five minutes. She doesn't come in to brush her hair or teeth while I'm showering, and I don't try to take a leak while she's doing the same.

It's all fine and dandy sharing a bathroom with a girl that spends more time applying makeup to her face then I take to do my Calculus homework. We even worked out a routine when we ate Chinese food in Port Angeles and the food poisoning kicked in before we made it to the front door. I was never annoyed with the undergarments that she hung on the side of the garden tub I hardly ever used, and she never bitched about the fact that I always left my socks and briefs on the floor by the shower.

All the sharing was fine and easy, except for the times of the year when we had visitors. Visitors that refused to stay in the basement that had its own bathroom. Visitors that drove me crazy and have harassed me for the past twelve hours that they've been here.

"EDWARD! COME ON! I HAVE TO PISS LIKE A RACEHORSE!" Tanya cried out dramatically as the beating continued.

I decided to forgo conditioning my hair and quickly scrubbed and rinsed my body. Dripping wet with a damp towel hanging around my hips, I swung the door open and was immediately assaulted with three things. Three very annoying things that have a set plan to try and embarrass me whenever they get the chance to when they're visiting, which is all the time.

Irina grabbed the edge of my towel, Tanya started snapping Polaroids and Kate doused me with silly string. There may have or may not have been a girlish scream on my part as I sprinted to my bedroom, slipping along the hardwood floor while the evil bitches of Manitoba cackled. And this might have or might not have been the third or fourth time in my adulthood that this has happened to me. After I dried off and dressed, I opened the door to find my three favorite tormentors sitting on the floor of the hallway. I stepped out, immediately locking my door and pocketing the key knowing that after the stunt they had pulled minutes prior that it could only get worse from here.

They followed me down the stairs, giggling as I held onto the banister. Summer '04 happened to be the year I broke all of the fingers in my left hand, including my thumb, because someone _accidentally _tripped me. Excuse me for being cautious.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, the hyenas immediately backed off and I smiled, walking over to my Aunt Carmen and giving her a hug. She mistook my hug as affection when really it was extreme gratitude. If I could get her to stay in the kitchen with me for ten minutes, I could eat my breakfast in peace. The triplets hovered around the island while I leisurely ate my Cream of Wheat and talked to my aunt about how her home business had been doing. I enjoyed a half of a grape fruit by the time Alice showed up, annoyed that I had left her to shop on her own thanks to the Tylenol PM I swallowed the night before.

"How was the shopping Alice?" I asked, rinsing my bowl out. The triplets were practically vibrating, as was Alice, who was now wearing a shit-eating grin.

"Oh, it was awesome! Next year's Christmas tree is going to be sapphire blue with silver icicles, and get this... I totally got all of the stuff for less than twenty bucks. I frigging love after Christmas sales!" Alice squealed, bouncing around before stopping. "Hurry up with that. The Triple D's wanna chat before they leave tonight."

An impromptu golf game this morning was the cause for the change of plans. Instead of them leaving, we were stuck with the triplets until tonight so that Carlisle and Eleazar could get shit faced at the country club and tear up the turf.

"Oh, well I have to um... Go?" I lied, trying to slyly grab my car keys and move past them. Strong female hands gripped my arms and

dragged me out into the back yard. My traitor of a mother and Aunt Carmen turned the other cheek, while the triplets and Alice forced me out into the sun. They finally released me when we reached the only tree that supplied enough shade for the five of us.

"Soooo... Alice tells us you have a girly," Irina started.

"She's a little rough around the edges?" Tanya added.

"But aren't we all," Kate finished.

"So tell us all about her," they said together. If I wasn't so used to it, that shit would probably freak me the fuck out. Instead I focused all of my energy on hating Alice at the moment. I even gave her an evil stare to show her how pissed off I was now.

"What the hell Alice?" I yelled. "She hates me! Why do you keep bringing her up?"

"Because I know you like her. I finally found something that the Triple D's and I agree upon, and it just so happens to be your love life, or lack thereof," Alice sang out as she leaned against Kate.

"So spill!" the Triple D's said in unison.

And I did. The triplets sat and took in everything I had to say, with Alice interrupting every now and then to add a romantic notion to the things that happened.

"And then he lifted her up off the dingy Biology lab floor and carried her out to his car, bridal style, while the entire class applauded," she said dreamily after I recounted the biology room incident. Alice has a crazy imagination, and has to sugar coat anything that sounds remotely mediocre.

"Shut the fuck up Alice!" I growled before continuing.

"And she lit candles while they enjoyed their impromptu lunch of cucumber sandwiches and quiche," Alice's voice had taken on a fantasy tone, totally ignoring my comment about her shutting the fuck up.

"Alice will you shut the hell up and let me finish? You weren't even there," I sighed out, turning to the triplets. "We ate fucking egg salad sandwiches."

"And then she slapped him in the face, calling him a pervy little snoop, and told him to get the hell out of her underwear drawer," Alice interrupted, laughing wickedly. "Okay, that didn't really happen at all, but it was worth a shot."

I put my hand over her mouth and finished my story. The Triple D's sat in front of us, staring at each other and doing this freaky triplet mental thing where they sat and stared at each other, as if they were telepathic, or something. For about five minutes they did nothing but keep eye contact with each other as they blinked and nodded their way through an entire conversation silently. Tanya jumping up and clapping excitedly brought us out of the quiet.

"Let's go! I have to see this fuck awesome Smurf blue house!" she exclaimed.

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"Come on! Dude, the last really cool house I saw was in Georgia. It was all round because the doctor was part of this religion where corners are like bad juju or something," Tanya explained before putting her hands together in a pleading manner. "Come on Ed! We only come to Jacksonville every now and then. Don't force me to miss a crazy ass house... please."

"I wanna drive your Volvo anyway," Irina added in, shrugging her shoulders. "You promised me last summer. Don't think I forgot."

Kate stood up and said "We'll just drive by, look at the weird house and the crazy ass VW van and come home. I'll school you in poker when we get back."

"No," I answered, crossing my arms in front of my chest in stubborn finality.

"YES!" all four girls screamed, pulling me to my feet. Alice ran ahead into the house to grab my car keys while we walked out the door. Well, I was dragged to the garage unwillingly.

"Have you guys ever heard of 'no means no'? I fear for the safety of the guys in your town," I countered as I was forced into the passenger seat.

"Oh, you should," the Triple D's laughed darkly.

Alice skipped out into the garage, twirling my car keys around her finger happily before tossing them to Irina. I prayed for a moment, hoping that God would keep my baby safe under the clutches of the speed demon.

I directed Irina through the streets of Jacksonville until we made it to the familiar street, and I broke out into a sweat. Would she be sitting outside today? Or inside as usual? Would the van be there, signaling that her mother was there?

"Stop being a pussy, Ed," Kate said, slapping me in the back of the head from the back seat. Have I mentioned that I've been beaten up a lot lately?

"Whatever. It's down this road," I said, pointing my finger in the direction of Bella's house. The house came into view and all four girls let out a low whistle, gasp, or in Tanya's case, "Whoa, baby!". It was just as bright as it was that day the Volkswagen van sat in the driveway and a bubble machine was sitting on the porch, creating a whirl wind of bubbles throughout the yard.

"She wasn't lying when she said her mom was a nut case, eh?" Kate asked as Irina slowed to a stop in front of the house.

"What are you doing?" I panicked. "Drive. She knows what my car looks like, losers."

"Calm down, dude," Irina said patting my head like I was a puppy. I hate it when she does that, or when anyone touches my head for that matter. "Just go up there and ask to talk to her."

"I can't. This has gone too far. There's no way I'm going up to her house. The last time I was here, it didn't end up pretty. Let's go guys. Please," I begged.

"Edward, just go up there. Christmas break is going to be a drag if you're all mopey the entire time. Please," Alice requested, pulling out the pout. But I was going to stick to my guns this time. No falling for the pixie's pout.

"No, Alice. I'll talk to her when we get back to school. I don't want to overwhelm her."

"That's it," Tanya huffed, opening her door and bolting in direction of Bella's porch.

"Where is she going?" I gasped, opening the passenger door just as she made it up the front steps in a sea of bubbles.

"Tanya, please let's just go!" I begged as she knocked.

"It's for the best, Ed," Tanya replied, smiling and bouncing down the steps just as the front door opened, revealing an older woman that was the spitting image of Bella, future wise. Her dark mahogany hair was cut short and pulled back with a tie dyed scarf, her chocolate brown eyes were wild and I felt as if I was looking at Bella Swan twenty years from now.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her voice having the slightest hint of laughter in it.

"Yeah, hi. My name is Tanya, Tanya Denali," Tanya said holding her hand out to introduce herself. "My cousin, Edward, is friends with Bella and we were just talking about how she hasn't come back to school after her first day. We just wanted to give her some time and decided to come make sure that everything was okay with her."

"Oh," the woman said, her smile faltering, but didn't disappear altogether. "Yes, Bella wasn't feeling well so she stayed home. She's up in her room, but I don't think she's up for company at the moment. The holidays were pretty rough on us."

"That's alright, we were just making sure she wasn't dead," Tanya joked. Bella's mom gasped placing her hand on her throat as she paled and my heart stopped.

"Can I see her? Is she really alright?" I spoke up, walking up the front steps quickly. Something about her actions had me immediately thinking that she was lying about Bella being fine.

"I'm sorry. Like I said, Bella isn't doing well right now," her mother said. "I'll tell her you stopped by though."

"Please," I begged. "I sort of upset her the last time we saw each other and I just want to apologize."

"I'm sorry, but no. Like I said I'll tell her you stop-"

"It's fine mom," a sad voice called from behind the screen door.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Chapter Six**

"_It's fine mom." a sad voice called from behind the screen door._

I breathed a sigh of relief as the door swung open revealing the girl that had plagued my mind for over two weeks now. She looked like she had lost more weight, if that were even possible, and the dark bags under her eyes clearly stated that she hadn't been sleeping well either. Her dark blue cast was now replaced with a walking boot, but she still moved slowly, almost lethargically onto the porch, swatting at the mass of bubbles in front of her.

Tanya wasted no time to bound up the stairs and introducing herself, even though it was clear that Bella had heard the entire conversation we had had with her mother. She gave a quiet hello as she shook Tanya's exuberant hand before turning to me. Her eyes were still haunting, a sadness hiding deep within and struggling its way to the surface.

"Hi Bella," I breathed.

"Hi Edward," she said flatly. "Thanks for coming by. It was nice… of all of you." She leaned a little forward and gave a pointed look towards the car. I glanced over and realized that there were three curious faces glued to the windows as they watched what was going on. Bella's mother waved happily and all three girls shrunk back embarrassed at being caught ogling.

"I'm going to go teach some girls some manners. Bella, Miss. Bella's mom, it was great to meet you both," Tanya said before turning to me. "Let me go deal with them."

"Thank you," I whispered, watching her jog back to the car and open the passenger door. I was frozen in shock as Tanya climbed inside

and the car shot off down the road leaving me stranded in Bella's yard with her and her mother.

"Uh..." was the only thing I could come up with and I heard Bella's mom laughing at me.

"Looks like your stranded, huh?" she joked. "Some family you got there, my boy."

"Yeah, um..." I felt around my pockets and remembered that I had plugged my phone into the car charger before we left the house. "Can I use your phone? I'll just call my dad and ask him to come get me and start walking."

"No," Bella's mother simply stated with a smile. "You were kind enough to come check on Bella. Why don't you stay for lunch and we'll give you a ride home later?"

I gave Bella a questioning look. It would be nice to hang out with her and try to apologize for what had happened. Her sad eyes just stared at me, void of any emotion, but the corner of her mouth lifted up minutely and she nodded.

"But before you go, we could use a man's hands around here," Bella's mother said, smiling mischievously. "I have been dying to hang these shelves in the living room for my shot glass collection, but I just don't have the muscles, and Bella isn't up for it."

"Sure, I'd love to," I agreed and walked up the stairs, trying to dodge bubbles that were still pouring out of the machine.

"You can help me with lunch if you want," Bella said flatly before turning to go inside. I gave her mother a questioning look, as if to ask if she wanted to do the shelves now, but she patted my arm and gently pushed me towards the door.

"Go on inside. You two need to talk and I need to weed the garden," she answered, pointing to a pitiful square in the yard that was overrun with weeds and dehydrated wilted plants.

"It's beautiful, Miss. Swan," I lied, but I'm sure my blush gave me away.

"Stop lying, boy," she scolded, swatting my shoulder. "I have no green thumb, but I try to do my part for the environment and making the world beautiful. And please call me Renee, or Mom. Miss. Swan died a long time ago when Charlie and I divorced, and my maiden name is worse than being a reborn Swan."

"Renee," I said, nodding, uncomfortable with calling her Mom.

"Go on inside. I'm sure Bella's working up a huge treat now that we have a guest. She will have to eat," she said sadly. "She might get crabby and make you feel like she doesn't want anything to do with you, Edward, but please be patient. She's been through a lot and I have a wonderful feeling that you're going to be the one to help her through her difficult time."

"I'll do my best, Renee," I said solemnly. "I've wanted to help her since the first day I saw her."

Renee's eyes lit up. "I saw you coming."

I stepped back as she touched her temple, afraid that she was as Bella had said, a nut case, but she laughed. "I read her tea leafs before we left that day. She had an axe, which means difficulties over come, and a boat, a visit from a friend. You're her friend Edward."

"I really wanted to be, Miss- uh, Renee. But I think I ruined those chances when I-"

"She told me what happened. She was very upset when I got home that day. But trust me when I say this. If you weren't her friend, or Bella felt no pull towards you, she wouldn't have came out of the house and would have told you to start walking when those girls left you here," Renee said, grabbing my hand. "You're going to be around for a long time and I am so happy that you found her. Just please keep in mind that Bella's a stubborn soul and she's also been through something very traumatic. Give her time and you both will open

up."

"Yes ma'am." I pulled my hand out of hers. I was starting to get freaked out by the way she talked. What'll be next? She's going to read my aura and tell me she's a witch? "I better get inside, to help Bella."

"You do that. And tell her to start some water for tea. We should do another reading," she replied, smiling wistfully as she meandered over to the garden plot.

I walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. Bella was pulling out a number of mixing bowls in different sizes, so I walked over to help her. We worked in silence as she handed me different utensils and I set them on the island in the order of which she handed them to me.

"I need to apologize," Bella said as she started pulling containers out of the fridge. She hadn't made eye contact with me since I entered the kitchen, but now I found myself lost in her eyes as she stared at me intently.

"I need to apologize, too," I said softly.

"Well let me go first, please," she breathed. "You didn't know that that picture was something that would trigger my panic attack, but it was my fault. I should have hid it better than just pushing it behind another photo. I'm sorry for freaking out on you. There. I said it."

She still left me with about a hundred and one questions, but I didn't let it bother me. Like Renee had asked, I would give her time. All the time in the world.

"I'm sorry for snooping around. I shouldn't have been so nosy. You're the first girl I've been around that wasn't my little sister or one of

my best friends or a really bad blind date. I was nervous and we weren't exactly talking, so I guess I was trying to find something that I could talk to you about." I knew I was rambling but I couldn't stop. "I saw your smile in that pictur-"

"Let's not talk about it. I accept your apology," Bella cut me off.

"I accept your apology," I uttered, nodding. I knew she had reached her limit for the time being. "So what are we making?" I asked, wondering what Bella wanted to concoct this afternoon.

For a brief second I saw the smile. If I had blinked I would have missed it, but for the second that I did see it, my entire body warmed and my heart started beating rapidly in my chest. It disappeared almost as soon as it appeared though.

"Homemade pizzas. I haven't had them in ages and we were planning on making them for Christmas dinner, but my mom decided on tacos," she answered.

"You have tacos and pizza for Christmas?" I asked.

I thought every family was the same, turkey on Thanksgiving, ham on Christmas. I didn't know any better because it had always been that way, even the year Dad blew up the fryer and set the garage on fire. Mom had thawed another turkey and roasted it, refusing to let anyone eat until it was cooked. Needless to say, we didn't have Thanksgiving dinner until eleven that night, but it made a wonderful memory. We had a lot to be thankful for that year.

"Yeah," Bella smirked, bringing me back to the present moment and off memory lane. "Have you met my mother?"

"Oh, that reminds me. She wants you to start a pot of tea, something about a good day for leaf reading or something." I shrugged before grabbing a large round pan that she had pointed to.

"Yeah, I _accidentally _dropped the tea on the floor this morning," Bella sighed dramatically as she pulled a giant bag of flour out of a cabinet. "And if she offers, don't drink any coffee made by her because it stains your teeth."

"Huh?"

I turned toward her only to realize she was entirely too close. We bumped into each other, the bag of flour between us emitting a small cloud of powder that shocked the both of us, leaving me coughing up a lung.

"Sorry," we said together before pulling farther away from each other and laughing.

"She can read coffee grounds, too," Bella said quietly, turning towards the counter and setting the bag down.

We worked in silence, first mixing the dough and letting it set while we worked on a pizza sauce from scratch. My mother was a great cook and I have helped out a time or two in my lifetime, but I always thought that pizza sauce, pasta sauce, hell even Alfredo, came out of a glass jar. I voiced my thoughts and Bella turned around from the spice rack a little too quickly and almost toppled over, before laughing softly. Like her smile, it only lasted a second.

"Edward, you can't be serious? How do you think those things got to be in a jar?" she challenged, rolling her eyes and grabbing three different jars of spices before tossing one to me. "Sprinkle that onto the pan after you spray it with Pam."

I watched as she continued to add spices to the pizza sauce, stopping every few stirs to take a small taste. She looked happy, like she was in her element in the kitchen, but at the same time she looked so entirely sad.

"Stop staring at me," she said, turning to the sink and rinsing her spoon off.

"Sorry," I apologized, blushing, before we continued to work together quietly. She gave me the job of cutting fresh mushrooms, green peppers and grape tomatoes, while she grated a giant block of mozzarella cheese.

"So how was your Christmas?" Bella asked as I sautéed the mushrooms I had cut. I could tell she was trying to make conversation and I admired her for it. Renee had said that they had had a rough holiday.

"It was alright. Christmas isn't as exciting as it was when we were younger," I shrugged. "Alice bought everyone enough clothes to last us a lifetime and our parents bought us each new laptops because mine was starting to become rundown and Alice ended up getting viruses on hers from MySpace that even Geeks On Call couldn't fix. The Triple D's bought me a subscription to Playb-" I stopped abruptly, realizing that I had said far too much already, but Bella snorted.

"Who the hell are the Triple D's?"

"My cousins. You met Tanya, but there are three of them, triplets: Irina, Kate and Tanya. They look alike, act alike, and drive me absolutely crazy." I frowned remembering how I was tortured this morning before they left me stranded here. I was pissed about the Polaroids, but I couldn't find it in myself to be angry at the latter. I was making progress with Bella and I had them to thank for it.

"I figured that after they ditched you. I mean that's pretty ballsy to leave you somewhere and take off with your car. SHIT!" she pulled her finger up from the grater and I could see the blood dripping from her finger as she squeezed it.

"Bella?" I rushed over grabbing the dish towel from the counter and wrapping it around her hand just in time. As soon as I had steadied her hand, I realized she was shaking and looked up to see her eyes roll in the back of her head as she whispered "So much blood" before her knees buckled and I scrambled to catch her.

"RENEE!" I screamed not knowing what else to do as I cradled Bella's silent body, gently lowering us both to the floor.

"Bella. Please wake up. BELLA!" I shook her softly as I heard the door open and shut, and then the sound of shuffling feet.

"What happened?" Renee asked sitting on the floor and taking Bella's head in her hands.

"We we talking and she cut herself on the cheese grater. I tried to help her clean up the blood, but she started mumbling something and then she fainted," I rambled, realizing that I was still holding her bloody hand. I lifted the towel to check the damage and sighed in relief when I saw that two of her knuckles had been badly shaved a few layers of skin but she didn't need medical attention.

Renee quietly asked me to help carry Bella into the living room and I stood up before picking up her frail body and carried her to the couch. Renee told me where to find the first aid kit in the kitchen and I would have laughed at the sight of the giant box of medical supplies if it weren't under these conditions. Renee expertly pulled out a few bandages, peroxide and Neosporin. I watched as she cleaned the wounds on Bella's fingers and bandaged them like a pro.

"If you're going to be around for a while you should know," Renee held up the bloody gauze. "This is a normal day for Bella. She's always hurting herself."

"Should we take her to the hospital? She fainted," I wondered, looking down at Bella's face. She looked to be sleeping, and if I hadn't been front and center when she fainted, I would believe that she was just taking a nap.

"No. She faints at the sight of her own blood. She has since she was little," Renee laughed. "She hasn't been sleeping very well lately so give her a little while. Until then we can finish lunch together if you'd like."

"Sure."

Cooking with Renee was a lot like cooking with Darcy, a five year old that Alice used to watch during the summer last year. Crazy and messy. She ruined the first pizza crust by trying her hand at flipping it in the air, it hitting the ceiling with a sick thud before falling onto the counter by the sink, three feet from where she was standing.

"Oops," she simply said, shrugging her shoulders. "We're lucky Bella made extra."

We managed to stretch out the large pizza dough into our own version of a circle. To me it looked like an oval, but Renee swore it was an egg, meaning sacred geometry and that it was a good omen or something. I tuned her out after she started talking about reading my palm. We set to work at spreading out the sauce evenly across the oval egg shaped crust, Renee trying her hardest at getting the sauce as close to the edge as possible.

"I hate crust on a pizza. I think it's Papa John's way of ripping us off," she retorted, before grabbing the bowl of cheese shredded by yours truly. We had just set the pizza in the oven and started doing the dishes together when I heard Bella start to cry from the living room. Renee looked at me quizzically before gesturing with her head for me to go check on her.

I entered the living room quietly, trying not to startle her if she was awake, but she wasn't. Instead it looked as if she was stuck in a nightmare. Her hair was a mess and she looked a little pale and clammy as she thrashed around, murmuring indistinguishable words. As I neared her I could hear her whimpering the same words she had in the Biology lab. I calmly placed a shaky hand on her shoulder and stood in front of her so, if she did jump, she wouldn't fall of the couch before crouching down and speaking softly in her ear.

"Bella... it's just a dream. Please wake up. It's not real."

She whimpered again so I spoke a little louder. This time earning a louder whimper as her eyes flew open.

"It's real Edward. They're gone," she said softly before starting to sob uncontrollably.

**Ever hear that expression one step forward three steps back? Well get ready. See yah the day after tomorrow :)**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Chapter Seven**

I was at a loss of what to do.

Here was this broken girl, laying down in front of me, crying her eyes out over something I knew nothing about. My entire being wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know how to go about doing that and Renee was apparently oblivious to what was happening, because I could hear her chanting something in the kitchen down the hall.

Bella's sobs turned into hiccups and it reminded me of when Alice and I were children and Alice would get upset to the point where she would start gagging. I really hoped that Bella didn't start that because I am a sympathetic puker. Hell, you can talk to me about it and I'll be hugging a toilet.

I tried to talk to her, but there was no way that she heard me over the sounds of her sniffles and other noises. I placed my hand back on her shoulder in an effort to get her attention and she pulled her hands away from her face before looking at me. Her eyes were puffy and red, still leaking tears, as if someone had turned on a faucet under her eyes, and her nose was running, but to me she was still pretty.

I managed to sit her up so that I wasn't kneeling anymore and we sat together very closely on the couch. In an effort to comfort her, I gently placed my arm around her shoulder and smiled inwardly as she snuggled into me. I could have sworn that I heard her take a whiff of my shirt as she cried silently, but I let it go. We sat quietly for a little while before I heard the oven timer go off and Renee start to skip around the kitchen. Bella giggled softly before pulling out of my embrace and standing up.

"We should eat some lunch. I take it the two of you finished without me?" she asked.

"Yeah, um... your mom said you'd be out for a while," I answered bashfully.

"That's alright. I appreciate it. I'm hungry though." She rubbed her flat stomach before walking down the hall towards the kitchen, her walking cast making a small 'plop' sound.

Like a lost and confused puppy, I followed her. In a way I was lost. I had no idea what to do next. I could feel myself falling for a girl that was clearly warring with her own emotions and had other things to worry about. More important things than me. I was lost because I had no idea where to go from here. I had never been in this predicament before and never wanted to be there for a girl in a 'non friend' sort of way. I had no idea how to differentiate from the two.

I was confused because of the way she acted around me. She had yelled at me and clearly never wanted to see me again after she caught me snooping that day. Yet she was completely hospitable towards me today and was using me as an emotional crutch when she clearly couldn't stand on her own a few minutes ago. I was confused because she obviously needed a friend at this point and my brain wouldn't allow me to only be that. I was constantly fighting the actions that were trying to make their way to the surface. I wanted something more than friendship with her, and it confused me because it didn't bother me that of all the people in this town, I had picked the one that had issues.

"Edward can you grab three glasses please?" Renee asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yes ma'am," I nodded, walking to the cabinet she pointed at.

We dished out our pizza after Bella cut it with a fancy pizza cutter and we sat around the island, Renee on one side, Bella and I on the other. The pizza was by far the best I had ever tasted and I swallowed the thoughts of me finding a girl that knew how to cook, unlike Emmett and Jasper. Bella wasn't my girl, as much as I wanted her to be, and I had no idea how to go about making her mine.

Renee spent twenty minutes trying to teach Bella and I how to fold our napkins into tiny origami birds, but gave up stating that her kindergartners were quicker learners than we were. Bella had only eaten a slice of pizza and the tomatoes out of her salad, but that seemed to please Renee as she cleared our plates. I got the feeling that that was more than Bella had eaten in one sitting for a while.

I offered to help clean up, but Bella shook her head and asked her mom if we could go sit out front. They shared a look, Bella's hollow and void of emotion, while Renee's was sad, but happy at the same time, if that was possible. Renee hugged her daughter briefly before sending a reassuring smile my way.

"Go ahead you two. You practically cooked everything, so of course I'll clean up." She then turned on an ancient radio that was

sitting on the window sill and starting bopping at the Celtic bag pipe music that was on. Bella gave me another 'told you she was nuts' look before leading the way out to the front porch.

The bubble machine was still going, but had run out of solution, so Bella tapped it with her good toe, turning it off, before sitting on the porch swing and patting the seat next to her for me. I sat cautiously and waited. Finally, Bella spoke up.

"I can imagine you have plenty of questions, especially after you've seen the way I act," she said quietly.

"I do. But I know you will tell me in your own time," I answered honestly. I shrugged in a way that said I didn't care if she told me now or not, even though the mystery was eating me alive. "I want you to know that I want to be your frie-"

"I want to tell you now," Bella said quickly, cutting me off.

"If you want." I gestured for her to begin. Bella looked into my eyes before turning to stare at the yard.

"I grew up in Forks. I'm sure you know that the whole town knows I'm from Washington," she smiled sadly. "My parents were young when they had me. They had fallen in lust and married on a whim, and I was the consolation prize.

"Growing up I had the normal upbringing, believing my mother was the most wonderful thing on the planet and that my dad was about as awesome as Superman, but as I grew older I saw that they were falling apart. I was like sticky tape holding them together and as I got older, the worse it got for them. It wasn't that they hated each other. They just outgrew one another.

"About a month before my sixth birthday, they sat me down and informed me that they were getting a divorce. My mom was going to try to find a job at any school that was hiring, and the day after my birthday, she packed up her things and moved here. I was given the choice to go with her or stay with my dad, Charlie, and I decided in the end to stay in Forks for many reasons." Her voice cracked and she wiped away a tear before it could fall down her cheek.

"One of them being that I was in the middle of my school year, and couldn't bare the whole 'new kid' status," Bella said, taking a deep breath. "The other reasons were Jake and Vanessa.

"Our parents used to joke that we were best friends, the Three Musketeers, while we were still in the womb. They went to the school on the reservation at the edge of town and I went to the regular elementary school, but that lasted only a few days before I was begging my mom and dad to allow me to go to school on the reservation. It helped that my Jake's dad was the chief of the Quileutes and he was able to pull some strings. I was the first 'pale face' there, but no one ever made me feel different. If anything, I was just as much a Quileute as the rest of them," she laughed softly.

"Eventually Vanessa and I turned into women and Jake's scrawny ass grew overnight into a man. It was like one minute we were all sitting around the local diner joking about his squeaky voice, and the next I was walking into Vanessa's room to find them shoving their tongues down each other's throats. They were terrified that I would be mad, so they had hid it from me, but it didn't bother me at all. I was hurt for a hot minute, but I got over it because I saw how absolutely happy they were and I was happy for them. They never once made me feel like the third wheel and I was grateful for that, even though I felt so lonely when they would go off to do their own thing as a couple."

"I know how you feel there," I interrupted. "I've grown up with Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and Emmett. Once everyone started getting together I was afraid that they would wake up one day and realize that I was the fifth wheel, but it hasn't happened so far and they've been together forever. Of course that doesn't stop my sister from trying to set me up with every eligible bachelorette in the city."

"Jake would scare anyone with a penis away from me," Bella laughed sadly. "I went to Junior Prom with the two of them because no one asked me. It was kind of awkward, but they included me in everything. People sort of stared when we danced together to 'Keep On Lovin' You,' and the principal was calling us over, trying to get our prom pictures taken together in a group of three instead of the regular couple. I still have mine. Vanessa and Jake were buried with theirs." Her voice was hollow again and she now had her eyes closed. I reached out and slowly took her hand in mine, but she was too far gone to realize; it clung limply in mine.

"When we were finally seniors, Charlie and Vanessa and Jake's parents were a little more lenient on curfews. We never went to parties just because it wasn't our scene. Instead we did things like go play a game of golf on a winter day because we knew no one would be out on the green, or bowling on a Wednesday night because we could. On the weekends we drove into Port Angeles, a town about an hour away from Forks and we'd shop at this thrift store for vintage clothing, or go to the local cinema and watch movies that had been out for weeks, just so that we could have the theatre to ourselves."

I could see tears start to pour down her cheeks, but she continued.

"One weekend right before the first report cards came out, we decided to head out to Port Angeles for the day because Vanessa was failing math and Jake had gotten a bad grade in art. We were afraid that they were going to get grounded, so we wanted to go out with a bang before that could happen, in case it'd be a while before we could do anything together.

"We spent hours in this giant Salvation Army trying on clothes and finding old things that no one wanted or cared about anymore. Vanessa found her prom dress and was thrilled to buy it so early, and Jake had found a huge bag of suspenders and bought them because he was set on starting his own trend.

"It was late. The movie we had gone to see had a few technical difficulties, so we had to wait longer than we thought." Her hand clenched around mine unconsciously and my heart clenched. She had already told me that they were dead, but it just hit me that she had been there.

"Jake's car was this decrepit old Chevy Impala, that we called Christine, and at the drop of a hat, the radio would change stations or the windshield wipers would start going. When he had first gotten his driver's license, it was a big deal for Vanessa and I to fight over who got shot gun, but after they started dating, I just gave it to her using the fact that I liked to stretch out in the backseat as an excuse.

"It was raining when we left the theatre, so Jake, being such a gentleman, ran to the car and pulled it up to the entrance so that we wouldn't get completely soaked. We took turns calling our parents first, Vanessa's, then Jake's, and then Charlie, to let them know we were running late. I had planned on spending the night with Vanessa anyway, but I wanted to let Charlie know."

Bella's voice trailed off and we sat in silence before she turned towards me and opened her eyes. Warm chocolate brown eyes with small hints of red flecks around the irises stared into my soul so intensely that I couldn't look away. It surprised me when she started talking, but maintained eye contact with me.

"I had just gotten him at the station and was letting him know what was going on when I heard Jake scream and saw him throw himself in front of Vanessa right at the same moment that a semi truck hit us head on." She flinched and so did I. "The driver was swerving to avoid hitting a car that had broken down and didn't see us. Jake had seen it, but knew it was too late to swerve out of the way and try to protect Vanessa. Christine was no match for a semi truck. All I remember is screaming for Charlie before everything went black."

Bella shuddered, but still hadn't blinked. I could tell that she wasn't here sitting in front of me. Instead she was sitting in the back of that car.

"I woke up before the ambulance got there. The woman in the car that had broken down was the one that called 911. She was helping the driver of the semi because she thought we were all dead," her voiced tapered off to just a whisper before she cleared her throat. "I remember screaming for Jake and Vanessa. There was so much blood; I was choking on it from my broken nose and it was pouring out of my arm."

She lifted up her arm that was still bandaged. "But they were so much worse. I screamed so loudly when my eyes finally focused on them, that by the time they were able to cut me out of the car, I had lost my voice. I had to watch them open the car with the Jaws of Life like it was a sardine can, and then pull my best friends out of the front seat. Their bodies were mangled and bent in impossible ways, but I still had hope. It wasn't until the paramedics pronounced them both dead that it hit me. They were both dead.

"The next thing I knew I was waking up in a hospital bed with Vanessa's, Jake's and my parents in the room. I tried to pretend like I was asleep because I was afraid that if I looked at them it would be true. I wanted to believe that it was all a nightmare."

I pulled Bella's sobbing body against mine, rocking her back and forth and shushing her. I couldn't see her hurting like this because it hurt me, too. More than she would ever know.

"I had woken up two weeks after the accident," she whispered against my chest. "Both of my best friends were gone and I had missed their funerals. I used to be so happy, Edward. The happiest. I was just like my mother, always happy even during the bad times, but now I'm just broken. I can't laugh or smile without feeling guilty."

She pulled away from me and reached under the collar of her shirt, pulling out a long chain with a small diamond ring hanging from it. "Jake had worked all summer at his uncle's barber shop sweeping up hair and disinfecting combs to buy this for Vanessa. He was planning on giving it to her for Christmas as a promise ring. A promise that they'd be together forever." Her voice broke and she started to cry uncontrollably and it was impossible for me to console her, to stop the grief. "I wasn't even able to be there to give it to her for him, Edward. She was buried in the ground not knowing that he wanted to marry her one day."

"She knew, Bella," I said calmly, though my voice was thick with emotion. "You have to stop feeling guilty about being happy though. They wouldn't have wanted you to turn out like this. A hollow shell of what you used to be."

Bella pulled her hand out of mine like I had burned her. "No. You don't know what you're talking about." She stood up and stared at me angrily. "Why couldn't it have been me? I can't be happy without them, Edward."

"I can be here for you," I replied, standing up and trying to walk towards her, but she backed away.

"No. You can't. I can't have friends anymore. I can't lose anyone else." Her sobs were back in full force and her tears were still pouring down her cheeks.

"Bella. I want to be-

"No Edward! I don't want you to!" she cut me off, holding her shaking hands up. "Just go home Edward. Please. I thought that this would be different, that talking about it would help me, but instead it's worse. The pain I feel is worse. I'm broken. I'm not good for you." She clutched her heart and started to hyperventilate.

"Bella. Please." I didn't even realize that tears were pouring out of my eyes.

"I can't Edward!" she cried. "No one will ever take their place!" She turned away and hobbled inside as fast as she could with her walking cast. The screen door slammed shut and I stood there completely broken. I walked over to the screen door just as she started up the stairs.

"You say you're broken, Bella?" I called.

She stopped, but didn't turn around to acknowledge me.

"That you're never going to allow someone to take their place? But I wanted to help you. To fall in love with you, but never EVER try to take their place. But I see now that that was just a waste. You're not the only one that's broken by all of this Bella."

And with that I turned and ran down the street.

**Oh geekward I wish I could hug your friggin neck after this chapter Next chapter may be out tomorrow because I'm getting an impromptu weekend off and I will have the time Anyone had the peppermint mocha coffee creamer yet? I found it on the way to work and I've had three cups it shall carry me until midnight because that's when I get off work .. poop**

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	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**I haven't had a chance to reply to reviews so I'll do it here**

**madyson222: If you told me you had a weird fascination with anything zombie related I'd ask for a blood test to be done because those are a lot of similarities ;)**

**maizeandblueinvalpo: Yes that is true but now we just have to get poor Geekward out of his emo pity party**

**k8ln713: We talk all the time so I'm sure we've covered most of the stuff you said in here**

**elaine67: This story is a little sad but sometimes I just need to get that out**

**Tinklove: Hm, well I can't reply because you never reviewed.. shame on you… four freaking reviews last chapter and not one of them was from you… your probably not even going to read this.. b-atch**

**Chapter Eight**

"So let me get this straight," Emmett said, before taking a huge bite out of his sub. "You finally fall in love with a girl and she ends up being so fucked in the head that she can't even sleep?"

"Don't talk about Bella like that," I interrupted with a growl, wondering why in the hell I even told him the predicament that I was in. No matter what was going on with Bella and me, I refuse to let him talk about her in that way.

"Whoa there, lover boy. Let me finish," he defended, holding his hands up, one of his huge hands still holding the sub. "So she tells you her story and then informs you that she can't be your friend? Your little declaration of love and then running was a bitch move, but this moping around and shit is turning you into a pussy man." He shook his head and stood up. "I'm going to get some of those cookies. You want?"

"Nah, I-"

"Of course not. You haven't eaten since your sister found you sitting on the front steps with your head in your hands, having a meltdown," Emmett cut me off, before pushing my sub towards me. "You better eat, I'll be right back."

_(Flashback)_

_"You're not the only one that's broken by all this, Bella."_

_And with that I turned and ran down the street._

_Despite the fact that I lived over a thirty minute drive away from Bella's house, I refused to stop and borrow a phone to call someone to come get me and instead ran for over an hour. Tears blurred my vision and I didn't care if anyone saw me in my distraught state. The farther I got from her house, the harder it became for me to __breathe,__ but I ignored the pain in my chest. _

_She had made her choice, I told myself. She had made it clear that we would get absolutely nowhere together and I needed to get over this crush. _

_Turning and running down my street, I stopped short as I made it to my front yard. It hit me then that __it was no use if I attempted __to get over her because it wasn't a __silly teenage __crush. Bella Swan had stolen my heart before I even realized it._

_I sat on the front steps of my house, waiting for someone to come let me in and broke down allowing the pain to__ take over__ me._

"_Edward?" Alice's voice was careful. "Are you okay? You're all sweaty. Are you crying?"_

_Not wanting to deal with __any__ pity, sympathy or advice from the little pip squeak, I stood up and walked into the house. After entering my bedroom, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into my bed, ignoring the timid knocks on the door and threats from __the Triple D's__ before they left that night. _

_(End flashback)_

The rest of Christmas break had went by in the same exact fashion.

Alice would knock on my bedroom door for an hour or two in the morning before giving up, then my mom would bring me food once a day because even though she respected my need for solitude, she didn't want me to make myself sick even though I already was.

My father stopped coming to talk to me after he attempted to prescribe me depression medication and tried to convince me to see a therapist. It could have been the pussy ass temper tantrum that I had thrown or even the insane amount of tears that came out of my dehydrated body, who knows. My dad hightailed it out of my room and I hadn't really seen him since. The men in our family weren't very emotional people, but apparently I was the only exception.

I did catch a glimpse of him when I was walking out of the bathroom and he was walking into Alice's bedroom. He gave me a sad smile before closing the door behind him and I was grateful that my parents were allowing me to be by myself. I only wish that Alice would have respected my wishes.

School was starting back up tomorrow and it wasn't even ten o'clock this morning when Emmett burst through my bedroom door under Alice's direct orders.

_(Flashback) _

_The intro to _The Golden Girls_ had just begun for the second time. Why was I watching it? Oh, because I stepped on the remote control accidentally, turning it to the Lifetime channel, and forgot to pick it up on my way back to my bed... yesterday. I could have got up and __picked__ the fucking thing off of the floor, but I had absolutely no motivation to do so. It wasn't as if I was really paying any attention to the damn TV. I just had it on so that I wasn't sitting in the dark silence. _

_If someone asked me why I was acting this way, I wouldn't be able to answer them. The truth was that I was hurt. My mom had told me one morning when she brought me food that everyone hurt when their first love ends badly. I just rolled over and covered my head with a pillow, having no intentions of eating the mush after her short words of wisdom. Bella wasn't my first love because my love for her was unrequited. Yet it hurt so unbelievably badly knowing that, even if I couldn't have her love, she refused to allow me to even offer her a friendship. _

_There was another timid knock on my bedroom door before it was kicked in, ricocheting off of the wall and causing me to jump up and curse loudly. Emmett's bulky body came through the doorway and he barreled towards me, throwing my body over his shoulder like I weighed next to nothing, before running out of the room and down the hall towards the bathroom. In the midst of my fury and attempts at fighting off my attacker, I saw Alice standing in the bathroom, the shower running and a pile of brand new clothes, complete with socks and a pair of shoes, on the counter beside her._

"_Sorry big brother, you need this whether you want to admit it or not," she__ said, smiling__ sadly before exiting the room quickly. Emmett opened the door to the shower and tossed me inside fully clothed in the pajamas I had changed into days ago. _

"_She's right bro. __Take__ a shower and get dressed. I'll meet you downstairs in twenty." _

_(End flashback) _

"You haven't even taken one bite of that sub, Ed," Emmett said, collapsing in his chair across from me. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I don't know, Emmett," I snapped. "I feel like I've lost my will to live, so why bother with showering, eating or any of that shit. You have no idea what it's like to go through what I'm am right now. You guys just need to leave me the fuck alone."

"That's just the thing dude. Your alone time isn't doing you any good. All you do is sit in your bedroom. And don't think I didn't notice that you were watching chick shit when I was helping Alice change your sheets that she has to now burn to get that rank ass smell out," Emmett grimaced. "What the hell. It's just a girl, Edward."

"It's not just a girl, you asshole." I stood up and leaned over the table. "It's _the_ girl. I hardly fucking know her, yet I've locked myself away for over a week, basking in my own filth because I can't not be with her. My heart is broken because she doesn't want anything to do with me."

Emmett looked around before turning back to me. "Calm down, dude. All I'm saying is that she's just the first person of the opposite sex that you found any interest in, and just because she doesn't feel the same way about you doesn't mean you have to destroy yourself and worry the hell out of your friends and family over her. How much more are you going to lose over this crush?"

His words sliced through me like a knife and I felt all of the air leave my lungs as I sat down in my chair heavily. Without even knowing it, Bella had stolen my heart. I couldn't be angry at her because she had no idea of it until I had informed her, before running away like a scared kid. The anger fell on me because it was my mistake. I shouldn't be hurt by her not returning my affections because sometimes that's how life was. If anything, I should swallow my loss because it was almost ridiculous for me to develop these types of feelings for someone after knowing them for so little time. It could even be possible that it wasn't love that I felt towards the broken girl. The pains in my chest at that thought told me otherwise.

"Ed-man? You alright?" Emmett asked, his mouth full of cookie.

"I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah? Well prove it. Eat half that sandwich and I'll give you a cookie," he taunted, waving one in front of me. "Then we'll go get

kicked out of Toys R Us or something fun."

Just to get him off my back, I picked up half of my meatball sandwich and took a hearty bite, inwardly grimacing at the cardboard taste. Instead of dwelling on it, I wolfed down the half, and a couple of chips for good measure, before wiping my mouth and looking up at the smug bastard.

"Alice owes me ten bucks," he boasted.

"How come?"

"I bet her that I could get you to eat. She told me not to hold my breath, but look at you." He passed a cookie over to me, but I ignored it. My stomach was rolling with what was already in it and my mood hadn't exactly changed, but I refused to let anyone else suffer over my defaults.

"You ready to go play with some toys?" Emmett asked, slyly snatching the cookie he had offered me back and shoving it in his mouth.

"Sure. If we get arrested, we're calling your parents." I stood up and gathered our garbage.

The rest of the day was spent making up for lost time on my part. I allowed Emmett to get us kicked out of Toys R Us and we even got a police escort out of the local Walmart after we fought with foam swords in the toy section, scaring little kids and parents alike. It was all good fun, but inside I was still feeling down and out, and I refused to let Emmett see that part of me. When he dropped me off at my house, Alice was sitting in the living room with our parents. The surprised looks on their faces when I sat down next to my little sister and asked what they were watching only caused the guilt to increase. We sat together and watched a few movies from our childhood thanks to Alice's need to get her Tink on, or whatever it was.

I didn't go upstairs to go to sleep until after Alice started yawning, internally high-fiving myself at the smiles every member of my family shot my way, and said goodnight. Once I was nestled in my bed, it was a whole 'nother story. Everything hit me head on as soon as I shut my lamp off. The guilt, that I had been so absolutely selfish with my family and friends, washed over me like the darkness. Emmett's and Alice's enthusiasm at each and everything I said or did today had only made it worse.

The anger I felt for Bella not feeling the same for me, as I did for her, hit me like a ton of bricks, and the added stress and hurt of that resulted in my curling in an almost fetal position. This wasn't like me. I had never been the type of person to allow one thing that went wrong to turn me into a crying, sulking, wallowing baby. Yet in walks Bella Swan, and now look at me. I had fallen in love with the unlovable and there wasn't a damn thing I could do.

A small knock on the door brought me out of my entirely fucked up train of thought.

"Come in," I called, my voice thick with emotion. The door slowly opened revealing Alice's small form. She shyly entered the room,

her fuzzy hot pink throw still wrapped around her shoulders as she shut the door behind her and laid down next to me.

"Hi," she whispered.

"Hi."

"Are you mad at me?" she asked, her bottom lip trembling a little.

"How could I be mad at you, Ali?"

"Because I had Emmett come in and man handle you. Because I've been bothering you since you came home from Bella's house that day, even though you asked for me to leave you alone."

"Alice..." I tried to interrupt, but she just kept on speaking.

"Because I had Emmett kidnap you today and try to force you to eat and have fun. And you didn't have to watch movies with me and the 'rents. I mean, yeah. we missed you, but I can tell you're still hurting. I can feel it in here," she said softly as she placed her hand over her heart. "And I don't want you to hurt because I hurt, too. I just want to make it better. The thing I'm most sorry for is allowing the Triple D's to abandon you there. If we hadn't left you there, you wouldn't be like this. I'm just sorry."

It was quiet for a few minutes before I spoke. "Are you finished?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I'll go," Alice whispered sadly before pulling herself up, but I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her to me.

"I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry for acting like a jackass and crawling into a hole over something that was completely out of our control. I'm sorry that you and mom and dad had to hu-"

She put her hand over my mouth to shut me up. "It's fine. I have no idea what you're going through, so I can't relate. Just know that I love you and that no matter what you do, you're always going to be my favorite person in the world. You're the best big brother a girl can ask for," she said softly.

"Alice?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why are we whispering?"

"Because it's late and we have school tomorrow. Don't want to get in trouble with mom and dad," she shrugged. "Whispering means more anyway. It ensures that the person you're conversing with will pay attention to you because they have to strain to hear you."

"Alice?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a goof ball."

"I know this." She shrugged again before burrowing into my extra pillow. "Can I sleep here tonight? I'm too lazy to get up, otherwise you will have to carry me back to my room."

"Alice?"

"Yep?"

"Shut up and go to sleep."

"'Kay."

**Shall we take bets on how their reunion will go? Not a whole lot of followers with this story so I'm going to work hard to get it over with as soon as possible but I have to have time to go over it to make sure there aren't any embarrassing mistakes **

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	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**I'm dedicating this chapter to one of my reviewers that sort of opened my eyes and made me realize that it's not the amount of reviews you get it's the people that take the time out of their day to leave them :) Thanks for the wake up call**

**JennieSue this one's for you**

**Chapter Nine**

School had been back in session for almost two and a half weeks before Bella Swan even glanced at me.

Day in and day out we shared almost every class together, except for when I went to gym and she went to the library to do her book work. Each day I would try my best to ignore her presence, and each day I would fail at my attempts. She didn't even acknowledge me when we were in the same vicinity, such as when she sat next to Rose in Spanish and I sat on the other side, or when we were in Biology.

Luckily, Mr. Banner decided to show a couple of long and boring movies when we returned back from Christmas holiday instead of starting on the dissections, so we didn't have to interact. Inside I was dying, yearning for her to just give me a quick look, but it was all in vain. Each day, every period, she would hobble into the classroom and over to her desk, staring at the floor the entire way. She never once attempted to look my way or say excuse me as she scooted past me in Biology to get to her seat.

I could feel the heat from her body against my back even though we made no physical contact. I spent the majority of my time during the boring movies staring at the girl next to me out of the corner of my eye and ignoring the need to touch her. She spent the majority of her time writing in a small composition notebook that she had started carrying around when she returned to school with the rest of us. I tried to inconspicuously get a peek at what she was writing inside the notebook one time, but it was useless; she kept her hand over the page as she wrote.

Lunch was usually spent with me in between Alice and Emmett at the table we always sat at. Bella never came to the cafeteria for lunch, and even though I wanted to sneak away to go find her, my friends and overpowering little sister refused to let me leave without them.

I had been doing a good job disguising my inner struggles around my friends and family. I ate the usual two meals a day, lunch at school and dinner with the family at night, then, and only then, would I be permitted to go wallow in my bedroom.

Alice still talked to Bella in Economics every day. It wasn't uncommon to see the two of them with their heads pressed together during down time or when Mr. Bush wasn't paying attention. I suppressed the jealously I felt that my sister was able to talk to Bella, and Alice suppressed any information she gathered from Bella during their little discussions.

As the weeks wore on, and Bella still didn't give me the time of day, I tried to leech onto my friends for companionship rather than trying to get her to notice me. Unfortunately the weekends were filled with coupling things that I wasn't included in, so I spent the majority of my time in my bedroom with my video games and school work.

I still drove by Bella's house daily. Just to get a glimpse, or at least try to. Once I thought I might have seen her at her bedroom window. I couldn't be sure it was her because it was only for a second, and she and her mom look freakily alike. I also couldn't be certain seeing as I was driving by and the person I saw was in a second story window. I guess you could say I turned into a stalker, but I was desperate, infatuated almost.

The day Bella Swan gave me the time of day happened to be a Thursday, and it wasn't even by choice. I was late arriving to Biology because Alice, being the little twerp she is, accidentally took my book and it had my homework in it. I had just walked into the classroom when Mr. Banner started handing out the dissection trays and bags of frogs soaked in formaldehyde. Bella was scribbling in her notebook as I sat next to her, and she didn't stop until the teacher tossed the bag with our frog inside onto the desk we shared, causing her to jump and slam the notebook shut.

We listened to Mr. Banner drone on and on about lab rules and what we would be accomplishing today, even though we'd already dissected frogs when we were in junior high. Gotta love public school funding. As soon as he gave us the go ahead, I got up to get us a pair of aprons and lab goggles from the cabinet and handed Bella hers silently.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"You're welcome," I mumbled out of shock.

Emmett could be heard squealing across the room as Mike Newton pulled their frog out of the bag without gloves. The entire class was laughing at him as he practically crawled up the wall in an effort to get away from the dead amphibian. I even heard Bella giggle a little before she put her hair up in a rubber band and grabbed a pair of gloves. She made no move to touch the frog, so I read the instructions and removed it from the bag, placing it belly side up on the tray and pinning down all four limbs. Bella didn't say anything as I pulled the scalpel out of the small toolkit and started to make the first incision.

"Mr. Cullen, I'd appreciate if you allowed Bella to participate in this lab as well," Mr. Banner called from the front of the room. "So far I haven't seen her do anything yet, so let her be a part of the dissection please."

I looked over at the girl in question and found her frowning at our teacher with an indisputable amount of hatred shooting from her eyeballs to his sweaty balding head. I noticed that all of the other tables were already locating organs, so I held up the scalpel to get her attention and she reached out with a shaky hand to take it from me. I could feel the warmth of her hand through both her gloves and mine. _Is it possible for a boy to swoon? _

"It's alright," she said, calmly inhaling through her mouth and exhaling out of her nose as she stared at the slab. "I can do this."

I watched her make a quick slice down the middle of our frog, squirming when it was finally open. I noticed that Banner had taken a great interest in the two of us, most likely to make sure she was doing some of the work, so I handed her the tiny little forceps and a couple of pins so that we could explore the internal organs.

"So how was your Christmas vacation?" she asked quietly as she worked.

"Umm..." was my brilliant response.

"I'm going to hurl if I'm not distracted. So how was your Christmas vacation? Or the rest of it at least?" she asked again, her voice choppy.

"Oh good. Um, the Triple D's left and I spent the majority of my break organizing my iTunes and getting my old files transferred to my new computer." _And pining over you,_ I added silently. "What about you?"

"It was good," she answered shortly, moving the pointer tool thingy around until she located the first organ and answered the question on the work sheet we'd been given. "As a senior in high school, don't you think that we cut up more than enough animals? I mean, I think this is, like, my fourth or fifth frog, and each time I cut open one it gets more disgusting."

"Yeah, well, the school is funded publicly so they can't afford fetal pigs and other grosser things so that's something to be thankful for, I guess," I answered, shrugging. I decided to dig a little deeper, seeing as she was feeling particularly talkative today. "So what did you get for Christmas?"

I watched her tense up, tossing the pointer stick down and turning back to her worksheet. "Kermit's all yours," Bella said.

The rest of the period I worked alone. I answered all of the questions on my worksheet, cleaned up Kermit, as he was so aptly named, and disinfected our entire table while Bella scribbled in her tiny notebook like the bipolar and infuriating being she is. She'd basically used me as a distraction and now that I'd served my purpose, it was back to acting as if I didn't exist.

I couldn't stomach my lunch after having just cut up a member of _The Muppets_, so instead of meeting Alice at my locker, I headed out to the quad for some quiet time with my iPod. Students had already arrived, taking all of the shade for themselves, so I decided to just roam the hallways instead. Luckily our school was pretty lenient about lunch time. So long as we didn't make a ruckus, we were permitted to walk around the school, sit in the library or on the quad. I could have gone off of campus for lunch, but chose instead to go check the library for a book that I had been looking forward to reading.

By the time I got to the library, my shirt was sticking to my back with perspiration. The cool air hit me, welcoming me into the building along with the smell of old books and magazines. I've admitted before, and I will again, I'm a self proclaimed bookworm and proud of it. I waved hello to the old librarian and she gave me a warm smile, in return showing off the dark pink lipstick she'd managed to get on her front teeth.

Where our school lacked in funding, they made up for it in donations. Our library was huge, bigger than the public one in town. I checked the old index card log that we still used to keep track of the books and noticed that the book I'd been waiting for still hadn't been returned. Instead of dwelling, I decided to go aisle by aisle until I found something to catch my eye. It was in aisle H-K that I found something I hadn't exactly been looking for.

"I didn't know you liked _Harry Potter_," I blurted out when really I should have just gone to the next aisle and pretended like I didn't see her. She jumped a little and stood quickly from where she sat on the floor reading the seventh instalment of the series.

"I don't, I mean I, uh..." Bella stammered, blushing and bending down to refasten her walking brace. "I was just looking for something to read because I forgot my book at home and realized I hadn't read this one yet."

"Hmm, it's alright. Alice made Jasper and I go with her to the release party in the next town over. She dressed up and everything," I said, chuckling. "We used to read _Harry Potter_ to each other when we were in elementary school, so it was sort of tradition to continue."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and hilarious as hell. Tomorrow in Eco you should ask her to do her best Howler impression. Priceless." And then I heard it again, and I was positive the noise I had heard earlier came from the same source. Bella Swan tipped her head to the side and covered her mouth with one hand, emitting a small giggle that made my insides melt, 'cause I'm a loser like that.

It was then that I realized that she was looking good, healthy even. Her cheeks had color in them and not just from being embarrassed. Her hair was braided in the back of her head, but pieces were falling. Her clothes actually fit her and matched, rather than a hodge-podge of whatever she threw on weeks ago when I first met her. I could still see the haunting pain in her eyes and features, but it was also as if I was talking to a new person, as if maybe I should introduce myself to this better Bella.

"What?" she snapped, pulling me out of my ogling.

"Huh?"

"You're staring at me like I have something on my face," she said, subconsciously rubbing her mouth and cheeks.

"No, it's just... Nothing."

"Oh."

"Yeah, well, I'm going to look for a book," I replied, pointing to the shelves. "You enjoy yours."

"Yeah, thanks. You, too, I guess."

Bella smiled somewhat kindly before sitting back down on the floor where she had been. I started surveying the different titles by just their bindings, something I'd always done. Judged books by their covers. I was just about to turn the corner and head for the aisle when Bella called me back. "If you find something to read, you're welcome to share the floor with me. Mrs. Woods doesn't like it when students take up the tables during lunch break."

When I said that Bella Swan talked to me for the first time, and it not being by her choice, did I mention that later on she made up for hurting my feelings by inviting me to sit on a cruddy library floor while we read? No? Well she did.

We weren't friends or anything. Hell we didn't even talk, but for the next two days, I skipped lunch and sat on the floor between aisle H-K with Bella. She read and I watched her read, and after the second day, she stopped calling me out on it. I do believe we were making progress. Albeit at a snail's pace, but I'd take what I could get.

I spent the weekend doing yard chores that I'd put off for far too long and Monday during Biology, even though she didn't say anything, Bella did send me a shy smile before turning back to her book work. That smile had me internally happy dancing all the way to lunch/ library time. We took our seats, her on one side of the aisle and me on the other, our legs stretched out in front of us, almost touching, but never actually doing so.

Bella finished the last chapter of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ with a sniffle and turned to me. "Do you think we can talk?"

**for the record I read DH in less than ten hours.. after working all day and then going to the midnight release and driving an hour back home.. the second I got home I flopped down on the couch and didn't leave until I finished :)**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**real life is poop... real life and working a twelve hour straight shift is double poop... real life, working a twelve hour straight shift and having the internet go out the night before.. yeah that blows even harder.. ugh sorry this was late.. I promise to be better for you everyone. Enjoy  
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**Chapter Ten**

I agreed to talk to Bella.

She insisted that she wasn't comfortable having our conversation at school, so after a little convincing on my part, I talked her into skipping the last two classes of the day. We had a pep rally that neither of us cared about during sixth period anyway so it wasn't like we were going to miss anything important. I was beyond nervous as to what she had to say, but curiosity got the best of me and we made our get away.

We were able to make it to my car without much difficulty and twenty minutes later I found myself sitting at the kitchen island of the bright multi-colored house eating a rather large bowl of homemade chili that had been Bella and her mother's dinner the night before. After arriving at their house, Bella commented that she was hungry and didn't even ask before she placed the bowl in front of me with a plate of crackers, a bowl of cheddar cheese and some sour cream between us. We ate in silence enjoying the delicious meal and I insisted on doing the dishes afterward, while she sat at the island with her legs propped up in my abandoned chair. I am a gentleman after all and she went through the trouble to reheat lunch.

I had just started scrubbing the silverware when she cleared her throat.

"So my dad sent me a package. It didn't arrive until a week after Christmas," she laughed out. "He's never been one for punctuality. Anyway, it was filled with things I didn't pack that he thought I'd like to have here."

"That's thoughtful," I said, not turning to her.

"Yeah, he got me a really cool DVD player for my bedroom. He also sent me a present from Billy. That's J-Jake's dad, if you didn't remember. Billy was going through Jake's belongings and found a box with my name on it so he asked my dad to send it to me. They both thought I'd want to have it."

Bella sniffed as I continued washing the dishes. "It was a dream catcher. Jake made them as a hobby. I always begged him to make me one, but every time I did, he would just blow me off, so I let it go. When I opened that box and saw his handwriting... I lost it. It was like I was back in that hospital room, being told that my best friends were gone again."

I rinsed the last dish and turned around, leaning against the sink. I wanted to sit next to her and try to comfort her, but again my curiosity got the best of me and I remained where I stood. It took Bella a second to gather her bearings, but she continued.

"I woke up that night in the hospital. Apparently I had a panic attack and my mom had to call 911. The paramedics had to sedate me." She wrapped her arms around her, fighting off the internal struggle as she continued to speak. "The doctors thought I should be on suicide watch."

I froze in my spot and it didn't go unnoticed by Bella, who laughed sadly.

"Really Edward. After everything I've been through, if I was going to off myself, don't you think I would have already done it? Anyway we were able to compromise and I now spend three days a week down at the local community center with Garrett Damon, a grief counselor. He's the one that's been trying to talk me out of my funk and it's working, but not as fast as I would like. I talked to him about you. About how you've only ever tried to help me and the way I've treated you. After a lot of pushing on his part, he convinced me to talk to you. I was afraid that I'd pretty much scared you off with the way I've acted. Garrett told me that I needed to talk to you, to explain things and I've been trying."

"What makes today different?" I asked out of curiosity, cutting her off before she could speak.

"Well, I finished the book. I kept trying to talk to you, like the day I asked you to sit with me on the floor in the library. I had convinced myself to talk to you, but lost my nerve. Garrett told me to give myself a strict deadline, so I made a promise that when I was done reading my book that I would talk to you," she explained.

"You've been talking to me though."

"I know Edward," Bella sighed exasperatedly. "Talking about the weather and how disgusting Mr. Bush's room smells is a lot different than 'Hey! My dad sent me a friggin' present from my dead best friend and I had a meltdown.'"

"So you're only talking to me today because you finished reading _Harry Potter_?" I smirked, trying to hide the fact that the tidbit of knowledge sort of hurt.

"No. I mean, yes? I don't know Edward. I just needed the push." she sighed, rubbing her temples. "And I can see that maybe that wasn't such a good idea and that I've already messed things up. _Again._ Garrett said I should talk to you, and the more I do, the more I end up either pissing you off or hurting your feelings."

"Why are you doing this? It's like you take one step forward and then three steps back every time we talk. Why can't you just lay it all out on the table so that we can move on?" I asked, slumping onto the extra stool and put my head in my hands.

"Because it's harder than it looks, Edward," Bella replied softly. "I'm grieving and trying my hardest to move on, but I keep relapsing. You have no idea what's going through my mind. Hell, sometimes I have no idea what's going through my mind, but I am trying. Please don't give up on me. I need a friend."

_Friend. _

"Please," she whimpered.

"Please what, Bella?" I blurted out. "I've given you space. I've given you my time. I've skipped school for the first time ever, and now it's like a friggin' hobby with you. I don't know what else to do for you, Bella. I'm pretty sure I should just walk away and act as if I never met you."

She gasped, but I continued. "But I can't. Because ever since that first day that I saw you in front of that library, I've wanted nothing but to be here for you, and you've pretty much shut me out, sucked me back in and it's like we're doing the same thing every other day. I've told you how I feel and I think I'm starting to realize that maybe that just isn't good enough for you."

"Edward, you're wrong. I'm trying."

"You're trying, but I never see any of the outcomes, Bella!" I yelled, immediately feeling guilty for doing so. "I'm sorry. I should just go. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Edward, please!" Bella started to sob. "I really am trying, trying to show you that you're important to me. Please don't leave! I'm sorry!"

"What do you want from me, Bella? Can you answer that? What would me staying here with you do?" I demanded.

"I just want a friend, Edward."

My heart fell into my stomach.

"Just a friend?"

"Yes." She looked down at her hands, refusing to meet my gaze. "That's all."

"That's not good enough for me, Bella. I'm going to need time ,so don't get upset if I'm not in the library tomorrow. Alright?" I stood up and grabbed my keys off the counter.

"Fine," Bella sniffled.

"Bye Bella," I said, not wanting to be rude as I made my exit.

"Bye Edward."

I rushed out to my car as quickly as I could not wanting to linger. I wanted to cry, scream, hit something and cuddle up in my bed all at once, but managed to start my car and make my way home. I had just driven past the school when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Where the hell were you today?" _Alice's voice rang shrilly in my ear.

"Dude... who cares about the stupid pep rally?" I sighed out.

"_I know, Edward, but still. Where were you? If I would have known you were leaving, I would have came with you. God! The prep squad did this dance to one of my favorite songs and one of the guys on the basketball team got a boner. It was ridiculously disgusting," _she sighed. _"I don't think I can listen to that song again without getting the heeby-jeebies."_

"Well, I didn't tell you because you weren't invited. And it was sort of spontaneous," I explained.

"_Uh-oh. Does this have something to do with Bella Swan?_" Alice giggled. "_I'd tell you to hurry up and get home so you could explain everything to me, but I'm much too impatient. Tell me, tell me! What happened?" _

"We talked. She doesn't want anything but friendship," I sighed.

"_Aww, Eddie, I'm sorry. Jasper took me to Shakes after school and I've got a half a gallon of chocolate custard with your name on it in the freezer if you want to wallow._"

"Why does everything always turn to food with you Ali?" I laughed.

"_Eh, that's how girls work. We like food. And even if you won't admit it, frozen chocolate custard will totally mend your somewhat broken heart. So are you almost home?" _

"Yeah give me like five minu-"

I was cut off by a loud horn blaring on my right and looked over at the same time the giant SUV smashed into the passenger side of my car. Of all the times to forget to fasten my seat-belt, it had to be today. My body was jerked wildly as the beast of a car dragged my Volvo across the asphalt.

I bounced off of the driver side door and cried out when my chest hit the steering wheel, effectively knocking the wind out of me. My head throbbed after I smacked it on something, whether it be my window or the roof of the car, I couldn't be certain. I just knew that it hurt. The screeching of metal and rubber on the road was almost as bad as the sounds coming from my phone that I still managed to have in a death grip. It hurt to breath as I brought my phone to my ear.

"Alic-"

The loud crash on my side of the car was the last thing I heard as both cars made it completely across the street and into the trees that lined the right side of the road. I watched a thick tree limb bust through the glass of my door before my sight grew dim and I passed out, succumbing to the massive amount of pain.

**I go hide now :( **

**see yah tomorrow :)  
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	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Rather than taking the time to reply to everyone I decided to just update. Please don't hate me.. or Edward... or Bella.. or Alice.. or me :)  
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**Chapter Eleven**

Dying is painful. Seriously.

That shit you see in the movies where people are killed instantly and they go off to the hereafter lickity split? Yeah, instead of the bright white light and being handed a pair of wings and a halo, I suffered immense pain. I could barely breathe. It felt like I could exhale, but inhaling was excruciatingly painful.

I was ready to die, to go to heaven and get away from this feeling. My entire left side felt like it was on fire, as if I were being burned alive and it took me a little while to realize that I wasn't dead or dying. So many noises could be heard all around me, but I couldn't decipher where it was coming from or what it was in general.

I lifted my head, immediately regretting the action as the pain flowed from the top of my skull to my toes. I then opened my eyes and found myself face to face with a giant tree trunk. It was then that I remembered the car accident.

Without moving my neck, I tried to assess the situation and realized I was seriously fucked. My left arm was twisted painfully almost behind my back against the back of my seat; my shirt was covered in blood. I could tell the blood was coming from my nose because it was flowing freely, tickling my lips and neck. My legs were fine from what I could tell, just a little scrunched up in the position I found myself in. My right arm had somehow weaved itself into the steering wheel, and I was facing towards the driver side door of my car instead of the front.

The worst part was the branch protruding from the trunk of the huge tree my car had smashed into and had stabbed me in the chest. Every breath I took I could feel it inching further and further.

"Hey dude, you alright in there?" a voice called from the passenger side of the car.

"Not really," I gasped out almost silently in an effort not to waste too much of the precious air I was trying to conserve. I could hear him going through my glove compartment rustling through my stuff. "Edward Cullen?"

I grunted in response.

"Well, my name is Marcus, and I'm going to sit with you while the rest of my crew gets the other car out of the way so that we can get to you out properly. I want you to remain calm and as still as you can, it shouldn't take too long. We have an ambulance waiting so as soon as we get that asshole's car out of the way we'll get you out," he said, his voice calming. "Now I can't see the front of you and from the sound of it, you're in a great deal of pain, so I want you to try your hardest to communicate with me. Alright Edward?"

I managed another grunt.

"Good, are you in pain?"

I was grunting before he even finished his sentence trying to convey that I was indeed in a great deal of pain.

"Alright, well, I'll see what I can do for you once I get inside. Don't worry about replying," he directed as the sound of metal crunching filled the air. "My boys are pulling the SUV off of you now, so don't be alarmed if you're jostled again. Try to remain as still as you possibly can. Don't worry about replying."

He wasn't lying when he warned me about the jostling. I cried like a bitch as the branch was pressed a little farther into me and both of my arms wrenched painfully. My tears were stinging as they flowed down my cheeks, getting into the cuts I evidently acquired. Marcus was a man of his word and I was surprised when he wrenched open the back passenger door of my car so that he could get up close and personal to assess the situation.

His voice went from calm, cool and collected as he explained his movements to me so I didn't get startled when he got to me, straight to panic as soon as he saw the front of my body. He immediately called for backup and demanded tools and equipment I'm not even going to try to name. He basically told me exactly what I already knew, which was fucked, but right after he said that he was going to get me the fuck out of there. It was weird hearing a paramedic in charge of keeping me alive until I got to the hospital cursing like a sailor, but for some reason it comforted me. It was sort of like having Emmett with me, but a smart, safety conscious Emmett.

"Alright Edward," Marcus said putting a plastic neck brace on me to secure my head. "I'm going to have to sedate you because there's no way I'm letting you suffer through us having to saw this fucking limb and getting you out of here. You're going to be fine, so don't worry. You're in good hands bro."

I grunted and felt the prick of the needle amidst all of the pain I was already going through.

"It's alright dude. Just relax and let this work for you. You'll see your family soon. I promise," Marcus soothed before I fell into an awkwardly peaceful sleep.

Somehow I woke up as soon as we arrived at the hospital. Marcus was holding an oxygen mask to my face while the paramedics worked to get me into the ER. He assured me that I was going to be fine before passing me off to the doctors and nurses. Looking into the eyes of Dr. Gerandy, one of my father's coworkers, I immediately felt the panic rise. I didn't want my father to have to see me like this. It would kill him. Especially when they told him that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

"Edward, you're going to need to calm down son," Dr. Gerandy said as I was wheeled into an operating room. The panic doubled, I'd never liked operating rooms. Dr. Gerandy of course knew this and gave me an apologetic smile as he pulled out a syringe. "We'll see you in recovery, Edward. You're in good hands."

I didn't even feel the prick of the needle under Dr. Gerandy's calm hand. He instructed me to count back from ten while someone replaced my oxygen mask with another. He started spewing out technical terms and I made it to nine before my world turned black for the third time today

Waking up after surgery isn't like in the movies either, I've come to realize. I assumed I'd have an underwater experience where all of my loved ones came to pay their respects and beg me to wake up. No... my welcome back to the world moment was a little unorthodox to say the least.

"I can't believe that bitch had the nerve to come here," Alice's fuming voice was the first thing I heard waking up. It seemed appropriate, her voice being the last thing I heard before the accident.

"Alice, I think your being irrational," Rose whispered, her voice an octave or two lower than usual as if she had a head cold or something. "You didn't get his full story before the acc-ident," she choked out.

"Babe, don't cry." Emmett's voice was solemn, a distinct difference from the sarcastic tone I'd grown up knowing.

"I think we need to get out of this room for a little while," Jasper reasoned from across the room. "Everyone's getting restless."

"Fuck you!" Alice spat. "I'm not leaving until my brother wakes up. Besides, the last time we left, we came back and found her here. You're out of your fucking mind if you think I'm going to let that shit happen again."

"Babe, you need to calm down," Jasper's voice drew closer, and I opened my eyes wincing at the bright lights above where I lay. Jasper's shaggy blond hair was the first thing I saw hunched over my little sister as she cried. Emmett was sitting in a recliner chair with Rose tucked under his arm while she wiped her eyes. Needless to say my friends looked like they hadn't eaten or slept in a few days. I tried to talk to get their attention, but coughed roughly instead. One by one they froze before rushing over to the bed while Jasper exited the room.

"Oh Edward!" Alice cried, kissing my hand that she held gingerly in her tiny ones. "Are you really awake now?"

"W-what do you mean?" I rasped, my throat felt like it was on fire.

"Well, you woke up yesterday and they removed your breathing tube and chest tube, but you were in too much pain so they put you back under. You don't remember?"

I shook my head, willing the fire in my throat to smoulder and die out. Rose started looking around the room for something. "Where the fuck is that little water thingy that they brought in here yesterday for Ed?" she snapped, throwing Coke cans into the small garbage pail by the door.

"The nurse took it away when she came in this morning, babe," Emmett replied, giving me a wide smile. "You scared the shit out of me, bro."

"Me too," Rose and Alice said simultaneously, but didn't laugh like they usually did. The door opened before I could ask any questions and Jasper led my parents into the room. My mother immediately accosted me with soft kisses and a lot of crying. My dad sort of pushed her out of the way, claiming that the last thing I needed was her having a mental breakdown, before he kissed my forehead and told me that he was ecstatic that I was alright.

Then the doctor walked in and demanded that everyone but family needed to leave because he didn't want the excitement to overwhelm me. Dr. Gerandy gave my knee a squeeze as he started to check me over.

"It's good to see you awake, boy."

I tried to reply, but my throat was too dry. Instead it sounded like sandpaper. Dr. Gerandy offered to go get some water for me when the door opened and Rose walked in holding a bottled beverage. "You should fire your fucking night nurse. She's a bitch and she doesn't replace things when she takes them." She sent me a wave before exiting the room.

Dr. Gerandy just chuckled. Everyone that knew Rosalie Hale knew that she was a major bitch with a potty mouth. She wasn't going to change and to this day I haven't seen a person willing to try to change her.

He opened the bottle and grabbed a straw out of one of the many cabinets on the far side of my room before placing it between my lips. When the bottle was halfway gone, he pulled away and I took a deep breath feeling the pain in my side start to twinge.

"Careful, son," Dr. Gerandy chuckled, putting the bottle on a side table before sitting on the edge of my bed. "I know you just woke up, but we need to cover a few things before you run off to those frat parties and raves or whatever it is you kids do these days."

I couldn't help but laugh, yelping when the pain became more apparent.

"Sorry my boy. You broke your left arm, if the cast wasn't obvious. Your sister tried to talk us into giving you a rainbow colored cast, but I had your back and decided to go with blue cause it's my favorite color. Hope you don't mind."

"No," I croaked. "It's fine."

"Any who. Broken arm, broken nose... we had to reset that bad boy and you managed to escape without the black eyes, so you're still pretty. You had surgery to remove the tree limb from your abdomen but nothing to worry about. We'll remove the stitches in a few weeks and you'll be right as rain."

He paused, taking a breath before turning back to the file he was reading out of. "The impact of the collision caused your lung to collapse, so that's really the only thing we need to monitor. You'll be in bed resting for a couple of weeks, so I hope you got the new Bioshock game. My grandson is obsessed with that stupid game. He's been playing it for a week straight, so it should definitely keep you entertained."

"What about school? I can't just miss two or three weeks willy nilly." I started to worry about how this accident was going to affect my graduating on time.

"Have no fear big brother. I've already talked with your teachers yesterday after the 'rents." Alice shot an annoyed look at mom and dad before turning back to me. "Made me go. Every one of your teachers said that you could go the entire time without doing your work and pass with B's because you're such a geek. I told them that the great Edward Cullen would never accept a B, so they agreed to start sending you work through me next week."

"Thanks," I sighed out, the pain starting to become more apparent, but I didn't want to be drugged up. Something dawned on me.

"How long was I out of it?"

"Oh, Jesus Edward," Alice laughed. "You're so dramatic. It's Saturday. You got in the wreck the day before yesterday. You didn't go into a coma in the operating room or anything."

"Alice Bianca Cullen," my mother scolded. "Be nice to your brother. He's be-"

"Been through a lot," Alice cut her off. "I know." Her face fell and I could sense that she was getting upset, so I patted the spot on my bed with my good hand and she climbed up next to me, despite the comments from both doctors and my mother. "Thanks."

"You're welcome" I answered, wincing as my stitches pulled.

"Are you in pain, Edward?" Dr. Gerandy asked. "Because now's your chance to get all the pain meds you can get. We're sending you home under the care of your father in the next day or two, so take advantage."

"No, I'm fine. Maybe in a little while."

It took me two hours to convince my parents that I would be fine for the night by myself. It took Alice another hour to convince the three of us that she should stay with me. Her not having school the following day won the battle, and dad pulled a few strings so that she wouldn't get in trouble for being here all night.

"I can't fucking stand green Jello," I groaned, poking the gelatin with my spoon and watching it bounce right back to it's normal form.

"I know, but you're on a strict liquids diet," Alice said, pulling her bag into her lap and rifling through it. "That's why I went and got you some real Jello!" she cheered, pulling out a six pack of strawberry Jello. I reached for it as best as I could, trying not to agitate my injuries too much. but she pulled it away.

"Who do you love?"

"You Alice," I sighed, rolling my eyes and holding my hand expectantly for the snack pack.

"Who's the best sister in the world?"

"You Alice. Now give me the Jello or I'll page the nurses and tell them you're just here to steal all the medical supplies."

"Fine. You're no fun." she relented, going the extra step to open the foil top for me. "How's the pain?"

"Eh, feels like I got hit by an SUV. I could go for a jog in a few minutes, yah know?" I joked, but Alice surprised me by bursting out in tears.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "It's my fault. If I wasn't so fucking nosy about you and _her_," she snarled at the last word, "you would be alright. You would have seen that jackass before he ran into you."

The jack ass's name was Tyler Henson. At two o'clock in the afternoon he was drunk off his ass and decided to make a beer run when he didn't need any more alcohol. The liquor flowing through his system had him so inebriated that he didn't see the stop sign or me before he plowed into my car. Tyler wouldn't be getting in trouble with the law over his bad decisions though. By the time the ambulances arrived to the scene, he died of a massive heart attack. People would think that he got what he deserved. I don't really know what to think.

"Alice, it's not your fault. Even if I had seen him, I wouldn't have been able to get out of the way fast enough, even if the woman in the car behind him had honked her horn earlier." I kissed the top of her head. "No blame, squirt."

Alice mumbled something, but I only made out the last word.

"What about Bella?"

"Nothing," she said, pulling away and grabbing the Jello from my good hand, proceeding to try to feed me.

"You're lying through your teeth. What about her?"

"She came to see you yesterday," she muttered.

"She did?" My heart started to beat erratically.

"Well yeah, according to the nurses she just sat in front of your door. She kept going to open the door, but then she'd chicken out. She'd been here for about ten minutes when me and the gang got back from the cafeteria." Alice scooped out some Jello and held it up. She fed me a bite of it before I said something.

"And? Did she come in and see me? Did she ever make it through the door?" I asked, immediately alarmed for Bella. It had to have been difficult, her coming to see me after a car accident. Alice was quiet as she tried to shovel more Jello into my mouth. "No, I don't want anymore. Tell me what happened Alice. Did you tell her to leave?"

"No."

"Well then, what happened?"

"You really don't remember?" she asked, fidgeting with my nurse button.

"No. Jesus, will you just tell me already?"

"She's extremely selfish," Alice rolled her eyes. "She was sort of freaking out the second she saw us, wanting to know if you were alright as if she wanted us to comfort her. Anyway, Emmett invited her inside and she started crying as soon as she saw yo-"

"Is she alright?"

"I don't see why you care Edward. You told her to get out."

My heart stuttered to a stop.

"What?" I croaked.

"Well, not exactly that nicely," Alice shrugged. "You took one look at her and told her to get the fuck out. After that they had to come in and give you more pain medication and you were sort of in and out of it for a while."

_What?_

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	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**On my way to dinner and then off to a freaking awesome as hell Spook House :) This place is known for making people pee themselves.. wish me luck :)  
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**Chapter Twelve**

"Edward Anthony, you better sit your sorry ass back down in that recliner or so help me..." Alice seethed from her perch on Jasper's lap. The two of them were sitting on the couch across from where I was trapped under about ten blankets and an umpteen amount of pillows. My arm was propped up against a cushy beanie pillow.

"Alice, I have to pee," I lied.

"Nuh-uh," she answered, shaking her head. "That's what you said last time and you almost tore your stitches out trying to get upstairs. You need to chill the fuck out and enjoy your little mini vacation while you can."

"Mini Hell's more like it," I muttered, causing Jasper to snort and spray Alice with the Sprite he had been sipping.

"I heard that, Edward!" Alice screeched as she reached for the nearest box of tissues to dab her shirt dry. "Don't make me call mom. She asked me to stay home and keep an eye on you, so stop making my job so friggin' difficult."

"She asked for you to keep an eye on me as in 'if I text you needing something, run downstairs and grab it for me,'" I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure she didn't mean for you to call Jasper over and the two of you to sit here with me the entire day. Trust me, I'm injured enough. I don't need to sit here and witness the two of you trying to eat each other's faces. My retinas weren't injured in the accident, but I'm starting to wish they had been."

"Shut the fuck up!" Alice screamed, standing up. "I'm so tired of hearing you joke about this. Grow up and stop being a fucking tool. Sit down and watch the fucking movie you picked out or I'm going to call mom and tell her what an ass hat your being."

Uh-oh. Alice said 'fuck' three times in less than thirty seconds, a direct inclination that she's about to blow a gasket.

"Fine, Alice. I'll be good." I rolled my eyes. The truth was, I was extremely restless. I had been home for almost a week and not able to leave the living room except to use the bathroom. The incision on my chest and the giant cast on my arm enabled me to even be able to take a fucking shower, so instead of allowing my over protective mother the pleasure of giving me a sponge bath, I'd been wiping down with a wet washcloth and unscented baby wipes.

My dad had given me direct orders that I needed to remain relaxed and somewhat inclined to make sure that I didn't compress the lung that was healing. I'd spent the past six days sitting in this fucking recliner, eating in this recliner and sleeping in it. Yes, it was comfy and plush, but it wasn't my bed.

My family waited on me hand and foot and that pissed me off to no end, but they wouldn't relent. Granted, I sort of needed the bed rest; my entire body was sore and it was still excruciatingly painful to breathe deeply or talk loudly. I tried to get up and walk around after everyone went back to bed the other night and ended up crying like a bitch against the kitchen counter until my father found me. After that I was on watch, but Alice was taking it to the next level. She slept on the couch and I was surprised she hadn't set up booby traps for me just in case I tried to get up at night. I wanted to go sit on the front porch, but Alice argued that Jasper wasn't strong enough to help me, so I sent a text to Rose asking her to bring her strong boyfriend over for the day so that he could help me out.

She replied saying that they were held up for a bit, but they'd come as soon as they could, much to my disappointment. They both had been too busy this week to come see me and I was starting to feel a little neglected by my best friends. She also informed me that they were bringing an extra person, but I just figured it was Bree, Emmett's little four year old sister.

I watched a couple of minutes of the God awful movie that I regrettably picked out, trying to ignore the sound of hushed whispers and lip smacking across the room. The pain started to increase and I knew I was due for another happy pill soon, but I didn't want to interrupt Alice. I had been the reason why she was stuck in the house on a Saturday instead of driving out to Port Angeles with Jasper. It drove me nuts that they couldn't seem to keep it PG while they were in the room with me, but I didn't want to piss her off anymore. She is the keeper of the meds and I didn't want her to deny me pain relief. I gave up on the movie and was just about to try to convince myself into taking a nap when my phone buzzed with a text from Rose.

_You know I luv yah rite?_ it read, so I sent her a reply asking her to elaborate.

_Just kno that I wuld never do NE-thing 2 piss u off kay? Im only tryin 2 help, _she replied.

I was clearly confused until the front door swung open and three sets of footsteps headed for the living room. Alice and Jasper broke apart as soon as they realized we had company and the three of us were more than surprised when we realized who the third set of footsteps belonged to. Bella Swan stood behind Emmett looking down at the floor and shaking like a fucking leaf with nerves. Her bottom lip was fully sucked into her mouth and I could tell that she was stretching the end of her shirt out by the way she kept pulling and twisting at it.

"What's she doing here?" Alice asked, not bothering to be polite to our guest. Back in the hospital room after Alice informed me that I rudely kicked Bella out of my room, I begged her to go and get Bella to allow me to apologies for how rudely I acted, but Alice refused. She thought that deep down inside of me there was a little part of me that was tired of Bella's shit. I told her she was full of it.

The only thing keeping me from getting a hold of Bella myself was my lack of her number and the fact that I couldn't get up and walk to the bathroom without suffering immense pain, let alone getting in a car and driving to her house. Alice refused to help me out and continued her 'I hate Bella crusade'. As close as I was to Rose, I didn't want to bring her into my problems, thinking maybe she sided

with Alice. I was evidently wrong on that account.

"Edward called and invited us over," Rose shrugged. "I told him that we were bringing an extra person and he didn't say there was anything wrong with that."

Alice's eyes turned into little slits as she eyed the fidgeting girl behind the big hulk of a boy. Her hand rested on her hip, her tiny foot tapping harshly against the wood floor. "She's not invited into this house. You need to leave," she directed towards Bella.

"Now listen here A-" Rose started, but Bella cut her off.

"It's fine, Rose. I know I'm not welcome here," she said softly, just above a whisper. "It's not like I came here on my own. Rose practically forced me into the car without telling me where we were going. I'll just go and call my mom."

"No you won't."

"That sounds like a great idea."

Rose and Alice spoke at the same time, scowling at each other as they spoke. "This isn't your house, Rose. You need to be respectful," Alice said.

"And you need to stop being such a little bitch, Ali," Rose snarled. "Seriously, if you focused on something other than yourself for five goddamn minutes, you'd realize that Edward's turning into a fucking emo after what happened at the hospital."

"I have noticed!" Alice leapt forward, but Jasper grabbed her. I tried to stand up, but couldn't manage to; the pain was doubling as I started to get excited. I attempted to get their attention, but I couldn't yell or talk loudly for that matter, so their yelling drowned me out.

"No you haven't! You weren't even there when he woke up later!" Rose yelled, her hands tightly fisted that her knuckles were white. I knew she was close to punching the shit out of my sister, but there was nothing I could do. "You were too busy making out with Jasper out in his car when he woke up."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Alice questioned. "He didn't want her there. He told her to get the fuck out."

"He did not tell her to get the fuck out, you drama queen. He told her he didn't want her there." Rose rolled her eyes and turned to me, her face full of regret. "You woke up later that night, Edward. You were pretty fucking high as a kite, but you told me that you sent her away because you didn't want her to see you all banged up after your accident. You couldn't bear for her to be in any pain, so you sent her away."

"You're lying," Alice accused.

"Bitch please." Rose rolled her eyes before turning to me. "The only reason Emmett and I haven't been over here every day is because we were with Bella. So Jasper is going to take Alice upstairs and Emmett and I are going to help you out to the porch so that you can get some fresh air. Then you and Bella are going to talk."

Alice scoffed, but Rose just sent her a death glare. "You and Bella are going to talk because it's obvious that shit needs be to be settled before one of you starts cutting yourself. Seriously, the two of you make me want to go hang out in a goddamn Hot Topic or some shit."

Alice looked over at me in question. "You're going to listen to this bullshit?"

I nodded at the moment, not caring that she was the keeper of the pain medication. She huffed and grabbed Jasper's arm pulling him up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door roughly. Bella was still staring at the floor, fidgeting like a crack addict, not making any inclination that she was with or against the plans.

And then there were four.

"Alright, Edward. You're looking a little shitty, so let me know where your pain meds are before we try to move yah," Rose instructed, pulling blankets off of my lap, careful not to jostle me too much.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting on a low to the ground plastic chair that Rose covered with blankets to make it cushiony. I had taken my pill with a few crackers and was just waiting for it to take effect to dull the ache in my chest and arm. Bella was sitting directly across from me with her back against one of the pillars that held the roof up. She had yet to look at me.

"Alright you two. Emmett and I are going inside to watch TV. Just call if you need something," Rose said.

"Yeah, no fighting. Eddie's already messed up enough," Emmett joked before giving me a wink. "Don't do anything I would do."

I watched the door shut before I turned back to Bella, who was playing with the strap to her walking boot nervously. I rested against my pillow enjoying the warm sun that I hadn't seen in days.

"So are we going to talk or just sit in awkward silence?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Um, talk I guess?" Bella said quietly.

"How'd you know I was in the hospital?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed because I liked the way the sun made everything red under my eyelids.

"I was there with Garrett. I had called him after you left and asked if he could talk to me. He was headed for the hospital to do something and came to pick me up. We drove past your car." Her voice broke off. "They were pulling it up onto a tow truck and I just knew something bad happened to you."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, opening my eyes and looking down at her.

"You got in an accident and almost died and you're apologizing?" Bella asked her voice full of confusion.

"Well, I know how hard it must have been for you to see that," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm sorry that I was so rude to you when you came in. I mean... I'm sure it took guts to even come to the hospital and then I treated you that way."

"You weren't as bad as Alice evidently told you that you were." Bella smiled, looking up at me for the first time and wincing.

"Do I look that bad?" I tried joking.

"No, no. You look perfect, Edward. I mean... for someone with a broken arm and other injuries. I'm just happy that you're alright for the most part. Garrett told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to go to the hospital. I think maybe he was worried that you had died in the accident and was worried about how that would affect me. I refused to let him take me home and I practically attacked the nurse until she gave me your information." Bella stopped talking and her face flushed.

"What happened? Did they give you trouble?"

"They did until..." she choked nervously. "I told them I was your girlfriend and then she sort of gave me your information willy nilly. That's dangerous, you know? I mean anyone could have said that."

"Eh, it's fine. I'm pretty sure you're the only one that used that excuse," I shrugged.

"Anyway, I sort of contemplated it for a while, whether or not I was going to go in after what happened at my house," Bella continued as she wiped her eyes. "And then your friends showed up and Emmett sort of made my decision for me."

"Yeah, he's pretty persuasive," I chuckled, wincing in pain only a little.

"Nah, just huge and intimidating." Bella giggled before becoming serious once again. "When you told me that you didn't want me there I figured it was because I'd ruined any chances of being friends with you. I accepted it. Rose showed up at my house the next day and she and Emmett have never really left except to go home and sleep. And then she forced me here today."

"Yeah, she learned that from Emmett. I'm glad you're here. I couldn't exactly come over to your house to apologize and I don't have your number, and it doesn't' help that Alice is acting the way she is. I'm sorry about that by the way."

"No, don't be," Bella defended. "You two are close. I know that. Don't ever apologize about that. She's right anyway. I'm pretty much acting like a damn yo-yo with you."

"Huh?" I grunted in confusion as she scooted closer to me.

"I lied, Edward. It's all a part of my guilt over Jake and Vanessa. Garrett came over and hung out with Emmett, Rosalie and I, and helped me realize that, especially in these past couple of days," she smiled before continuing, "I started to like you and that's why I pushed you away."

"That doesn't make sense," I blurted out.

"Let me finish please. I started to feel things for you and I immediately thought back to Vanessa and Jake. I felt guilty about being happy, Edward." Bella started to cry and I wanted so badly to get up and comfort her. "How can I be happy without them? How can I move on with my life when they never got to live theirs?"

"That's just it, Bella," I sighed. "They're gone and now you need to live your life to the fullest or their deaths are in vain."

"I know that now. Garrett's going to make one hell of a psychologist," she said, smiling.

"So what does this mean?"

Bella stood up and walked over to me, kneeling in front of my chair and taking my hand in both of hers. "Edward Cullen, will you go on a date with me?"

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	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**This story is almost rapping up. Good thing I have one all ready once this one is finished.. and another one in the works :) Thank you so much everyone. I hope you enjoy :)  
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**Chapter Thirteen**

Two weeks passed and I was finally getting out of the house. My injuries were healing nicely and I was headed to the doctor's office with my mother to get the stitches removed from my abdomen and an all around check up on my lung and arm. The cuts and gashes had all but cleared up and my bruises were turning a weird yellow color. I had been able to walk up the stairs at a slow pace last night and sleep in my bed. The best night's sleep I had had since I woke up in the hospital. I was happy to be recovering, but even that feeling couldn't compare to the feeling I had about the person sitting next to me in the back seat of my mother's car.

"Why are you smiling so goofily?" Bella smirked, squeezing my hand with her fingers that were braided through mine. I had agreed to Bella's proposal of course, but due to the fact that I was completely bedridden, we weren't able to leave the comfort of my living room. Adding the lack of privacy to the fact that my sister did everything in her power to make Bella feel as unwelcome as she could, we hadn't been on a date nor done anything date like yet.

So because we weren't allowed to do anything that involved moving on my part, we talked constantly for hours until either she or I realized that it was past her curfew. I learned that Bella's favorite movie is a tie between _Who Framed Roger Rabbit _and _The Nightmare Before Christmas. _Bella's favorite ice cream flavor is Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate and she buys pints during the winter season and stores them in the freezer for ice cream emergencies. She hated the green M&M's because Ronnie in the second grade shoved one up his nose and then ate it. Her favorite color was blue-green, and when she was little she wanted to be a veterinarian, until she killed every one of her goldfish after a couple of days.

After the accident that killed her two best friends and getting the help she received from Garrett Damon, she decided that she wanted to become a grief counselor for such cases. Bella learned that my favorite movie is _Transformers_, my favorite ice cream flavor is lime sherbet and that I hated M&M's, choosing Reese's Pieces instead. As a child I wanted to be a professional gamer, but now I was more interested in teaching, even though the economy had pretty much killed any hope for future teachers.

It was weird, but in a good way, the two of us becoming almost completely inseparable after hardly being acquaintances. At night after Bella would rush home she'd text me about how Renee embarrassed the hell out of her about being out past curfew. We'd talk until one of us passed out and the next day Bella would go to school and text me when she could while I did absolutely nothing.

She'd come over immediately after school, bringing me a special surprise each day, like Red Vines or Hostess cupcakes. Alice would bring my homework to me and leave, muttering under her breath the entire time, but we'd just ignore her. The rest of the day was spent doing homework together, stealing glances at each other and then snuggled together on the recliner watching TV or a movie and talking.

Bella would worry about hurting my injuries, but I liked having her tucked under my good arm, so I'd just shoot down her offers to move over to the love seat or down onto the floor in front of me. The first time we sat together on the recliner, my mother came home with an arm full of groceries that she proceeded to drop on the hard wood floor in surprise. Bella jumped up, blushing madly and offered to help her clean up the cracked eggs and spilled milk, and my mom asked her if there was any way Renee would like to trade daughters with her.

Bella ate dinner with my family that night, much to Alice's chagrin. I loved being close to her and danced internally every time she touched me, whether it be a quick hug, a kiss on the cheek or when she linked our fingers together.

"Nothing," I answered, breaking out of my thoughts about the past couple of weeks. I shrugged and looked out the window.

"You're a liar," Bella accused, pinching my hand. "Hmm, if you won't tell me, I'm going to have to guess. You're happy that you're finally out of the bat cave?"

The bat cave was the new nickname for the living room, Bella's attempt at making my time a little brighter. It was so good to see her joke around and laugh without worrying about her feeling guilty almost immediately. The first couple of times we joked around, I'll admit I was on edge waiting for her to freeze up and start getting upset, but she didn't. Another thing I found out about Bella was that she's extremely ticklish on the inside of her right elbow. The giggle she emitted when I lightly touched it was worth the slaps.

"How about you're happy to have such fabulous company on your way to the doctor? I mean seriously, your mom is the best to hang out with. That's the only reason I ever come over."

"Thanks, Bella," my mom chuckled from the front.

"Fine. She gets off at five thirty and is usually home by six fifteen. You can come at six thirty and hang out with her and stop bothering me after school until she gets there," I played along. "Because you were really starting to grate my nerves."

"Pfft, whatever. You know my coming over is the highlight of your day," Bella beamed. If only she knew that her statement was absolutely positively true. "So what is it?"

"Everything. I'm happy to be out of the house for the first time in forever. I'm happy that I have such wonderful company." I squeezed her hand to let her know I was not talking about my mother. "And I'm happy that you decided to come with me."

"Of course, what else would I do on a Friday when we have no school? Sleep in? Nah. That's what freshmen do," she snorted, covering her mouth with her hand in embarrassment.

"Aww, how cute. I'm dating a piglet," I poked her in her side, chuckling when she squealed.

"I hope you get the all clear to go back to school Monday." She bounced once and managed to compose herself. "School is so boring without you. Seriously, no one talks to me except for Rose and Emmett, and the library is so quiet without you there bothering me while I read. I miss you so much."

"How can you miss me when you see me every day?" I smiled, unable to hide my happiness. Bella cared for me, probably not to the extent that I do for her, but that was alright. I'm sure I was starting to cross the border into obsession.

"You know what I mean."

"Alright kids, we're here," my mom called as she pulled into our parking spot. As much as I wanted to jump out of the car and get this over with, I couldn't. My left arm being in a cast made things awkward, seeing as I forced Bella to sit on the right side so that we could hold hands. My mom had to open the door for me and then Bella rushed over to my side of the car to help me stand up. Can we say humiliating?

"I changed my mind. I'm more happy that after this appointment I can take a shower." I sighed missing the feeling of the water cascading over me. I'd managed to take a bath a couple of days before in shallow water so as to not get my stitches and cast wet, but ended up getting stuck, so it's been sponge baths all the way.

"I know, baby. I've already gotten the jumbo trash bags and duct tape to cover your cast," my mom said, walking ahead of Bella and I. She kept turning around and looking at our joined hands, smiling like we'd just told her we eloped last week and she was going to be a grandmother tomorrow. My mother is a weird woman. That's all I'm going to say.

"Is it bad that your mom creeps me out with the way she keeps staring at us?" Bella whispered when we were situated in the waiting room. My mother had gone to sign me in.

"Yeah, I mean your mom uses me to hang shelves and wants to read my palm, but I don't say such mean things about her." I feigned hurt. "I thought you liked my mother?"

"Oh, shut up." Bella rolled her eyes and proceeded to ignore me until the nurse came out and called me back. Bella and my mom stayed in the waiting room looking over the same cooking magazine and talking over recipes while I was poked and prodded. My stitches were removed and the hole was covered with this weird glue like stuff that was waterproof. I couldn't wait to get home and take a three hour shower. I was given an almost clean bill of health and sent home with a milder pain medication so that I could function when I went back to school on Monday.

"So now I get to beat you up without feeling so bad," Bella joked as we drove down the winding roads toward home.

"You felt bad before?" I chuckled. "I hope you don't mind that I'm going to leave you with my mother while I take a shower. I'll try to make it quick."

"I was planning on stealing Bella away for an hour or two anyway. She's staying over for dinner and promised to teach me how to make chicken parmesan. So she won't be bored," my mom offered.

"Yeah, nothing like going over to your boyfriend's house to be used and abused by his mother," Bella giggled, kissing my hand that she still held in hers.

We hadn't been on a date yet, but Bella refused to leave my house the day she asked me out until I agreed to go steady with her. It was a joke when I told her that I wanted to ask her out because that's what boys do, and we argued for twenty minutes about how I was being sexist until Rose came out and acted as judge while Emmett played referee.

My dad wasn't home yet and Alice's car was gone, so it was just the three of us. My mom went to pull out the ingredients for dinner while Bella offered to help me tape my cast up, stating that she had plenty of experience with water proofing limbs. She'd seen me without my shirt a couple of times, but never in the privacy of my bathroom. I was sort of frozen as she unbuttoned my shirt and helped me shrug it off.

"Oh god Edward stop being such a baby. So what if I see your moobs. It's nothing I've never seen before."

"Moobs?"

"Yeah. Man boobs," Bella cackled squeezing my pecks in her hand until they looked like cleavage. "See?"

"Bella!" I squealed, swatting her hands away._ Fuck, I just squealed_. "Jesus, woman. What's happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm happy," she said, crinkling her nose. "You really do need a shower. I'm pretty sure that will make me happier."

"Do I stink that bad?" I raised my arm and tried to force her closer.

"If you don't stop, I'm going to duct tape your mouth shut and your good hand behind your back." Bella warned holding up the roll of silver duct tape.

"Fine." I held out my cast covered arm and watched as she expertly taped a trash bag around it. "Ew, my hand is already sweating."

"Stop being a baby."

"Why do you keep calling me a baby?"

"Because you're acting like one and not one of those cute little pudgy ones either. Your acting like one of those ugly, bald, unibrow babies that do nothing but cry twenty-four-seven," she stated, tearing the last piece of duct tape off and leaning up and kissing my lips softly.

One of the most important things I learned in the past two weeks is that Bella Swan loves kiwi flavored Lip Smackers and so do I. The first time she kissed me was when I rented _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ the day after she admitted that she liked it. I was surprised when she leaned up and pressed her plump lips against mine, and even more so when she forced her tongue into my mouth. After that, I wanted to write a thank you letter to Lip Smackers for their choice in the kiwi flavored product.

I wrapped my good arm around her, drawing her closer to me as our lips worked together, but she pulled away. "Nope, you need to shower, you grimy man. And you might want to trim up a bit." She rubbed my Shay Carl beard before touching her mouth. "I'm starting to get beard burn."

"I'm shaving it all off," I stated reaching for my electric razor.

"No. What? WHY?" Bella screeched, pulling it out of my reach.

"Because it's annoying and you've already said you're getting beard burn?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I want you to shave it all off. Just trim it up a little so you don't look like a hobo."

We argued the pros and cons of keeping my facial hair or not for almost ten minutes before Alice banged on the bathroom door, causing the both of us to jump a foot in the air.

"Will you two shut the hell up! Edward, it's your body. Do whatever the fuck you want to do. Shit." She then stomped down the hall

and slammed her bedroom door as loudly as she could.

"She's right. Do what you want." Bella handed me my razor. "I'm going to help your mom cook dinner."

"Bella," I sighed. "Don't let Alice get to you like this please."

"I'm not. She just had a point. I mean I wouldn't listen if you asked me to shave my head because you liked girls with butch haircuts. I'm going down to the kitchen so don't take too long, 'kay?"

"Alright." I pecked her lips once more, then locked the door behind her and turned to the mirror, turning on the razor. After getting rid of the scruff, I jumped into the shower, enjoying the feel of the water cascading on me. Oh, how I missed showering. Sure beats sponge baths. After scrubbing my hair clean, conditioning three times and scrubbing my body as best as I could with as much soap as I could, I finally managed to dry off and put on a fresh pair of boxers and a under shirt.

I tossed my clothes and towel into my hamper and went to my bedroom cutting the trash bag and duct tape off of my arm and inspecting my cast to make sure there wasn't any water damage. Bella was right; she's an expert. I could hear my mother and Bella talking when I finally managed my way down the stairs as slowly as I could. I felt lighter and, if possible, happier now that I was clean until, I heard a third voice.

"You do know you have a home right?" Alice asked, her voice laced with venom.

"Alice Bianca," my mother scolded.

"Yeah, I do. But this is also my boyfriend's house and whether you like it or not, Edward and I are together, Alice," Bella snapped almost as acidly. "I know you don't like me, but you're going to have to get over it because I'm not going anywhere."

"Uh-huh," Alice scoffed.

"I'm serious. What would you do if Edward didn't like Jasper? HUH?" Bella demanded. "You'd tell him to fuck off, right? Esme, I apologize for my language."

"It's fine, Bella," my mother replied, her voice laced with amusement.

"Yeah, I'd tell him to fuck off." Alice screeched. "I've been dating him for almost four years, you twit."

"I'm not talking about now, you friggin' idiot," Bella laughed. "I'm talking about the first time you brought him home. If Edward had told you that he didn't like Jasper, what would you have done?"

Alice got quiet and I looked around the corner to find her seated at the bar faced towards the inside of the kitchen where my mother and Bella were breading chicken. My mom stood with her hands midair covered with batter watching the two of them argue. Bella had washed her hands and her hand was on her hips, her face flushed with anger.

"I would have told him to go to hell because I love Jasper," Alice said after a minute, not looking up from the counter.

"Then why are you acting like this?" Bella asked moving closer as her voice softened. "I mean I'm not saying I'm in love with Edward. _Yet,_" she stressed, causing me to smile. "But you're not even giving me the chance. You were one of the only people to talk to me in school, and now you're treating me like crap because I was a little confused? And don't even try to blame Edward's car accident on me, Alice."

Alice suddenly stood up, her arms flying into the air. "I NEVER SAID IT WAS YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"

My mother made no move to control the altercation, so I entered the kitchen, but neither Alice nor Bella saw me. They stared each other down and I was waiting for them to result to blows with the anger rolling off them.

"Then why are you being such a bitch to me?" Bella demanded. "You were so nice until Edward told me to leave the hospital room. You've already heard what happened and the reasons behind his actions, so why are you still so ignorant to me?"

"Because," Alice said defiantly, crossing her arms in a huff.

"Are you kidding me?" Bella screeched. "'Because'. That's the reason? Damn, I've never wanted to hit someone so badly in my friggin' life."

"Ladies, if you're going to fight, please take it into the back yard," my mother said calmly, going back to her task with a smile on her face. "Or Alice you can get over whatever hold you have on hating Bella. It's obvious she's not going anywhere and the grudge you're holding isn't worth it."

"How can you side with her?" Alice stomped her foot like a two year old. "I'm your daughter."

"And you're being a little immature." My mom turned and washed her hands. "Bella's here to stay, so say your peace and get over it so that she and I can get back to cooking."

When Alice made no move to speak, I grabbed her shoulder and turned her so that she would look at me. "Tell us Alice. Or stop your shit because I'm getting tired of it and I'm pretty sure everyone else is too. You've all but stopped talking to Rose because she brought Bella over here and now you're trying to make her miserable every time she's over here. So either answer the damn question or get over yourself."

"Fine," she huffed, turning to Bella. "I don't like you because you treated my brother like crap and you didn't care that he was hurting. He got in that wreck on the way home from your house from not paying attention because I was bugging him about _you_."

"I thought you said you didn't blame the accident on me?" Bella asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"I don't. I blame myself. _Me_ wanting to help _you_ after what I found out about your life in Forks. It had taken over my brain and instead of waiting for Edward to just come home and tell me what happened, I badgered him about you. I can't stop thinking that if I'd hung up the phone, he'd have been able to see that car before it hit him. I blame myself." Alice started crying, hugging herself. "I won't ever forget the sounds that I heard on that phone or my brother's voice when he called my name."

"It's something you'll never forget, Alice," Bella said, walking over to my sister and pulling her into a hug. "Coming from someone who's been there, that's something that will haunt you until you learn to deal with it."

"How do I deal with it?" Alice sobbed, throwing her arms around Bella.

"I'm going to introduce you to a friend of mine. His name's Garrett and I think he can help you now that he's done with me," Bella said softly.

I turned to my mom who was smiling widely. "What in the hell was that?" I whispered, gesturing towards Bella and Alice.

"Girl stuff. Don't question it. It's not something that can be explained," my mother shrugged.

Later that night, Bella and I were sitting on the front porch when she turned to me. "Did you know that the accident was bothering Alice so much?"

"No. I just thought she was being a bitch," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I thought her issues were just with you. Do you think she really has post-traumatic stress or something?"

"Or something. Garrett will be able to help her, though," Bella smiled.

I just hoped she was right.

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	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**God I really hate myself sometimes when I am uploading a prewritten story because I tend to piss myself off. I'm sorry I missed yesterdays upload I was off work and had to partake in a Walking Dead marathon because I am freaking addicted :) ADDICTED that show is so good if you haven't watched it where the hell have you been? It's freaking zombies! ZOMBIES!  
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**Chapter Fourteen**

"And then Garrett said that I should maybe go to the place where Edward crashed, and I was like 'no way,' and then he was like, 'yeah you should, it could help you get over your guilt.' I dunno though," Alice rambled about her appointment with Garrett down at the Community Center. "Then we went and made hot chocolate, and Garrett was like, 'I don't think you should put so many marshmallows in the cup before you put it in the microwave. It might explode'. But I told him he didn't know what he was talking about, and guess what? I exploded the marshmallows in the microwave. I tried to clean it up, but Garrett told me to run, so I did."

Everyone was sitting around the coffee table playing Monopoly World Edition. The cool one with the credit cards instead of the paper money. Alice had been seeing Garrett Damon every other day for about a week now and he was all she ever talked about. She and Bella were talking again, so things were smoother when Bella came over after school. That also meant that Rose and Emmett were practically living at my house again.

We had a three day weekend, so my parents decided to take off to Alaska to visit the Triple D's and my aunt and uncle. Alice refused to go because she'd miss not one, but_ two_ meetings with Garrett, and I wanted to stay because my girlfriend was here.

Bella and I went to dinner Wednesday night while everyone else went to the football game at the high school. For our first date, we kept it particularly low key, choosing to go to a chain food burger joint and then to the drive in. I had to drive my father's car because the insurance hadn't come back on mine yet. We couldn't remember the beginning, middle or the end of the movie we watched because we couldn't figure out how to get my dad's radio to work. Instead we sat in the back seat and made out like, well, teenagers.

My parents gave us permission to have friends over, trusting that we'd be safe and responsible, so long as everyone's parents were okay with it. Rose, Emmett and Jasper were always allowed over for unsupervised sleepovers, and we thought Renee was going to start up a fight, but instead she just gave Bella what I'm guessing was a sex talk and a birth control tonic. Neither of those were necessary. We'd only been dating for three weeks and that was a huge step that neither of us were ready to take. Besides, my arm was still in a cast for another handful of weeks and it already got in the way.

"And then, we went to this small room and I thought he was going to treat me like a patient. You know, like in movies where psychiatrists make their patient lie down on a chair and talk about their feelings," Alice continued, before the entire game board and all of its pieces went flying across the room.

Aside from the shock, I watched Jasper stand up, his nostrils flared in anger. "HE'S NOT EVEN A DAMN DOCTOR ALICE!" he yelled, his southern accent coming out even more with his hostility.

"Yeah, but he's working on it. He's going to the university and he is graduating next year, so he's, like, almost a doctor," Alice defended proudly.

Jasper just stared down at her for a couple of seconds, probably wondering the same thing I'm sure the rest of us, besides Alice, were. _Did she not see that he was pissed as hell?_He grabbed his empty soda can and stormed into the kitchen, the heavy door swinging three times with force.

"Hmm... who wants to play Uno?" Alice asked, pulling the game out of the cabinet under the coffee table and smiling. "Garrett and I played it the other day and I think he let me win."

Everyone just smiled and I could tell that we were all getting a little uncomfortable. After a few minutes, I realized that Jasper hadn't returned, so I excused myself using the excuse that Bella needed another soda. She seemed to know what I was up to and went along with it, handing me her still full can as if it were empty. Jasper was sitting at the kitchen table, pulling the end of his short ponytail in frustration. I sat across from him and waited for him to calm down, but he didn't.

"What the fuck, dude? How in the hell did you put up with Bella talking about that quack twenty- four-seven when she was seeing him?" he demanded, standing up and pacing.

"I... Bella never talked about Garrett with me. She just told me that she was seeing a grief counselor and that the two of them were meeting at the community center," I replied, shrugging my shoulders, not seeing the point of his question.

"Did he ever make her hot chocolate? Did he take her to a fucking small ass room where they talked? This is bullshit! I'm so sick of hearing about what he did to make her feel better!" Jasper yelled, slamming his hands on the table and making me jump.

The kitchen door swung open and Alice danced in completely oblivious. "Jasper, come on. You can be on my team." It was then that she noticed there was some tension. "What's wrong?"

"I um... I'm going to get back to Bella with this soda." I grabbed a Coke out of the case on the counter and made my exit just as Jasper started to let his frustration out on my little sister.

"You want to know what's wrong? You couldn't come to me and tell me about your issues, but you'll go talk to a goddamn strange-" I probably should have stayed and made sure that everything would be okay, but I knew that Jasper was all smoke and no fire. He'd say his peace and Alice would say hers, and the two of them would be making out and hooking up tonight. It's happened more than once.

Bella was still sitting on the floor putting the pieces to the Monopoly game back in its box, while Emmett and Rose looked over the movies they'd picked up from the rental store on their way over. I picked up stray pieces of the game and helped Bella put them back in the cabinet, before pulling her over to the recliner.

"Are they okay in there?" she whispered, pointing her chin towards the door that lead to the kitchen.

"They will be. Jasper's just having some issues with Alice being so cozy with Garrett. He asked me if I had an issue with the way you talked about your meetings, and I told him that you never talked to me about them. Why is that?" I asked, playing with a loose curl that had fallen out of her clip.

"Um... well, to tell you the truth, I wasn't as close to Garrett as Alice seems to be," Bella shrugged. "I mean, he's a friend now, but the way she talked about him is how I talk about you when I'm on the phone with Angie and stuff from back home. Do you think it's possible that Alice has a crush on Garrett?"

"No. I mean, she and Jasper have been together forever," I scoffed and then backtracked. "I dunno though. Maybe. I mean, she talks about Garrett constantly, even to my mom and dad. I just thought it was because he was helping her, but I guess it could mean more to her."

Bella opened her mouth to say something, but the door to the kitchen flew open with a bang, scaring the shit out of all of us. Jasper's face was beet red and his hands were in tight fists as he walked across the room and picked up his bag. Alice stood in the doorway holding the kitchen door open as we watched him leave the house, slamming the front door so hard that a picture fell in the hallway.

"What in the hell was that?" Rose asked, while Bella hugged me tightly.

"Jasper and I broke up," Alice said simply, before sitting down on the love seat. "What movie are we watching?"

You could have heard a pin drop, it was so quiet. Emmett's mouth hung open mid chew, showing off the mouth full of Skittles he'd been eating, while Rose froze in front of the DVD player with the same shocked look on her face.

"Did you already pick one? If not we should watch something good, like _Zombieland_ or something funny," Alice said pulling a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar chips off the table and stuffing her face with them, as if nothing had happened moments ago.

"Oh yeah, we, uh, picked _The Hangover._ Is that okay?" Rose asked a little hesitantly.

"Oh yeah! I love that movie!" Alice squealed, fist bumping. Bella hadn't said anything, but she kept giving me a weird look as if to silently ask 'When the hell is it going to hit her?' Truth was, I couldn't answer that question any better than Alice could.

About five minutes after Rose had just hit the play button on the menu screen, we heard laughing coming from the love seat. Bella froze against me and my hand stopped rubbing her back. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Emmett and Rose had both frozen, too. The giggling continued throughout the movie, until we realized that instead of laughter, we were listening to Alice's hysterical sobs.

"Hey Albo? You alright over there?" Emmett asked, sitting up a little.

"Yeah, that was just so sad. I mean, she doesn't even know where her fiancé is and they're getting married in like hours and, yeah, his friends can't even find him," Alice sobbed, while the rest of us just stared at her like she'd grown a third eyeball. "I'm going upstairs to get my blanket. Does anyone need anything?"

"Um... no," I answered, followed by everyone else. Alice wiped her eyes and ran up the stairs quickly.

"What the fuck was that?" Bella asked, sitting up. "Seriously, should someone call Jasper or something?"

"No. Maybe this has to do with her mental thingy. Should we call Garrett?"

"Garrett? Is he coming over?" Alice asked, causing all of us to jump. When did she come back?

"No, uh, Rose was just asking when you were going for another meeting with him," I covered.

"Oh, not until tomorrow morning. He asked if we could meet tomorrow morning at the hospital instead because he's doing some charity thing. He's such a good person," she said, smiling dreamily.

"She's totally into Garrett," Bella whispered in my ear. "Dude, he's like twenty-seven, I think. That's so gross."

"Yeah, well, this shit isn't going to fly." I muttered

"I'm going to bed. Rose, I set up the guest room down that hall for you and Emmett," Alice said after the third movie was over. We'd all been ready to go to sleep after _The Hangover,_ but were too afraid to leave Alice alone. Bella was passed out and I felt a moist spot on my chest where she was drooling in her sleep. Is it weird that I thought it was cute?

"Is Bella sleeping with you in your room, Edward?" she asked, her head tilted to the side.

"I, uh, don't know," I stammered. "If not, she can have my room and I'll sleep down here."

"I'm not taking your bed," Bella mumbled, sitting up. "We can sleep together without _sleeping together._"

Emmett giggled like a school girl at her answer and Rose smacked him upside the head before leading him down the hall. Alice just smiled and left the room carrying an arm full of garbage. Bella stood up and straightened her clothes.

"Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah, it's just like sleeping down here, but with a little bit more room," I shrugged. Bella changed in the bathroom while I put on some sleep pants in my walk in closet. She knocked before she walked into the room and nervously stood by my bed that I was already laying in. I lifted the blanket and she slowly slid in next to me, wrapping her arm around my waist.

"Do you think that everything will be okay? With Alice and Jasper?" she asked tiredly.

"I don't know. She's acting weird and that's a lot to say when talking about Alice," I yawned. "We'll just have to see how it goes."

The following day Rose, Emmett, Bella and I went out for breakfast. Alice had been long gone when we woke up, leaving behind a note that said she didn't expect to be back until after lunch, so we were on our own. We ate our pancakes and walked along the strip mall, hitting the local arcade and making asses of ourselves on the _Dance Dance Revolution_ game. Bella was surprisingly good, despite having a walking cast on her foot.

"How dare you doubt my expertise?" she argued, slapping me when I voiced my thoughts.

"I'm just saying," I laughed, holding my hands up in surrender.

We had just made it home and were in the kitchen making sandwiches when the front door slammed shut and a high pitched sob rang through the house. Alice came storming into the kitchen, dressed in a skimpy dress with a large amount of makeup that was practically melting off of her face from the amount of tears pouring from her eyes.

"What happened?" I panicked, rushing over to her.

"Garrett... Ugh... I... stupid," she blubbered, throwing her arms around me as she continued to wail.

"You're going to have to calm down, Alice."

"I thought he liked me," she sobbed. "But no, he's engaged and I, ugh! I thought he liked me. So I dressed nice and he even complimented me. He took me out to lunch after we were done at the hospital and I thought he was trying to kiss me, so I kissed him."

"Oh god," Rose groaned.

"Yeah," Alice hiccupped. "He was just reaching for napkins. He told me that he couldn't help me anymore and now I'm...ugh. I'm going upstairs. I just want to be left alone. I've ruined everything!" She pulled away from me and left the kitchen, leaving the four of us just as confused as we were when Jasper left yesterday.

"Should someone say it or shall I?" Emmett said. "What in the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Rose, Bella and I said simultaneously before turning back to our sandwiches.

"Maybe we should go home and let you be here for Alice or something," Bella said a little while later. We had just finished playing poker, Emmett had ran to get Mexican for dinner and Alice was still holed up in her bedroom, blaring girly love songs and refusing to come out. Rose was currently knocking on her door, trying to give her a bottle of water and a sandwich.

"No. We planned this weekend to hang out and stuff. She's the one that made bad decisions. Let's just hope that she can live with them," I shrugged. "Emmett called Jasper and he's having a hard time, too. Apparently when he confronted Alice about Garrett, she told him she wanted to see other people and that's when he left the house."

"What? Just a week ago she told me that she'd tell you to fuck off if you ever told her to stop being with Jasper," Bella said, her eyes brimming with tears. "What if that happens to us? I mean, my first boyfriend, but I don't want to turn out like them."

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "That won't be us, Bella. I promise. Things will work out with the two of them, and if not, we'll all have walked away having learned something. Don't let their drama ruin our weekend. Stay please?"

"Alright," she sighed. "It's going to be weird having to leave tomorrow though. I liked spending every waking moment with you yesterday and then our sleeping moments together,too, last night."

"I know. I liked it, too."

Rose came downstairs carrying the tray with her. "She's not opening the door and I can hear her talking to someone on the phone. It sounds like she's maybe leaving Jasper some voice mails or something. I dunno," she rolled her eyes. "Lunch is going to be awkward on Monday, eh?"

"Hmm... there's a reason Edward and I go to the library," Bella laughed.

"Oh no, you don't!' Rose cried. "The two of you are coming to suffer right alongside me tomorrow. Please don't do this. I thought you loved me, Ed."

We finally agreed to eat lunch in the cafeteria with Emmett and Rose on Monday, but it was all in vain. Alice cried all weekend, which resulted in her having a hell of a sinus cold, so she was home sick for the day and Jasper ignored everyone, including our teachers. Bella called Garrett, but he didn't pick up, so she started to feel that maybe he blamed it on her because she was the one that referred Alice to him. All in all our awesome parent-less weekend ended on a pretty sour note.

**Cutting it a little short.. this story is almost complete :)**

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	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**Hope you like it :)  
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**Chapter Fifteen**

"How's she doing?" Bella asked, kissing my cheek as she walked into my house. I closed the door softly, sighing as I did so. Bella toed off her shoes and took her jacket off, hanging it on the coat hanger before turning to me. "Still nothing?"

"Not a damn thing," I muttered, rubbing the spot on my forehead where I could feel a migraine coming in. It had been a month since Jasper and Alice broke up and my little sister wasn't taking it well. At first I thought that maybe she was upset because Garrett had shot down her advances, but that wasn't the case. Yes, she'd made the wrong choices by going after an older man, but she still had feelings for Jasper and he refused to look at her, let alone listen to her.

Things were tense once she came back to school. Jasper asked for seat changes in the classes that they had together. Alice tried to talk to him in the hallway one time and he looked straight through her as if she wasn't standing right in front of him. He stopped shutting the rest of the group out and talked to us when Alice wasn't present, and we were smart enough not to bring her up. Alice started to pull away from everyone as the days progressed. She started losing weight because she couldn't eat and at night I heard her crying, but she wouldn't unlock her door. I heard my mom ask my dad one night if he thought she was developing an eating disorder, but he said Alice would grow out of it.

Then she started to crawl out of the shell she'd formed. She started coming out with Bella and I on the weekends and even went mud bogging with Emmett and Rose, something that she and Jasper used to do with them.

Bella and I started going to the cafeteria for lunch to keep an eye out for her and there were times that we caught her staring across the room at the small round table in the corner that Jasper sat at with a few of his buddies from the track team. Alice had been out of town last week because her chorus group had a state championship. Rose and Emmett decided to take advantage of off campus lunches, so Bella and I tagged along each day. Had we stayed at the school and eaten in the cafeteria we would have known. But how could we?

Bella decided that she wanted to show off her bowling skills the night that Alice came home, so the entire group, minus Jasper, drove to Port Angeles and rented shoes and a lane. Alice and Rose fought over the only hot pink eight pound ball, while Emmett and Bella gave us each goofy names on the electronic score card. I had trouble bowling because my left arm was still in a cast, but we managed to have fun and not let it bother us too much when Bella kicked our asses the first game.

Rose had went on the hunt for a different ball, claiming the banana yellow one she'd been using was bad luck, while Bella continued to flounce around, gloating on her supposedly epic win. Rose came flying back over to our lane, looking as if she had just seen a ghost and telling us that we needed to leave. We refused to leave because we had paid for three games, but Rose was adamant, pulling the woman troubles card so we changed our shoes and headed for the front door, just thirty seconds too late.

Jasper was standing at the counter explaining that he'd been given two different sized shoes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice freeze up and Rose started to shuffle her out shoving her shoes into Emmett's hands. Just as Jasper turned and caught the five of us staring at him, Maria Rodriguez came into view and threw her arms around his waist and called him 'baby'. Jasper didn't acknowledge our presence as he grabbed his correct shoes and led Maria back to the lane that they were obviously occupying.

Alice remained absolutely silent the entire drive home. She left the four of us sitting in the living room and walked up to her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. I hadn't seen her for five days and if it weren't for her breathing or nightly trips to the bathroom, I would have thought she died. My mother and father argued what was best for her, seeing as she refused to leave her bedroom, eat or go to school. My father won out, giving Alice an ultimatum, either she ate or she went to a doctor.

He knew that she was hurting, but he refused to watch her kill herself over some boy. Alice got angry, screaming that Jasper wasn't just some boy, but ended up promising to eat, so long as she was allowed time. My father compromised that if she ate two meals a day she could have one week off from school, but after that it would affect her graduating on time and he refused to let her bury herself.

"She still won't talk to me because she thinks I knew that Jasper was dating Maria, so she refuses to talk to me," I explained to Bella as I led her to the living room. We cuddled together on the couch and turned on a movie even though we wouldn't watch it. We'd been together for over a month and a half, but sometimes it felt like she'd always been by my side. She knew exactly what I needed, sometimes before I even knew. We hadn't said those three little words yet, but we both knew how we felt. It was almost as if we were afraid to say it out loud after watching Alice and Jasper's relationship implode on itself. We were young and we couldn't promise that we'd be together forever, but I couldn't see myself without her.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Bella asked, bringing me out of my thoughts. She tangled her left leg with my right and began scratching my scalp, an act that she knew I loved.

"Everything."

"Hmm... sounds interesting. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. It's nothing we haven't talked about already. Why bring up boring mundane topics when we can just sit in silence?"

"You're so dumb," she laughed, pulling lightly at my hair. "Do you mind if I bring up a topic that we haven't talked about yet?"

"There's actually one of those?" I joked, earning a slap to my chest. "Kidding. What is it?"

"Well, my dad wants to see me."

I froze and it didn't go unnoticed by Bella. "Oh, stop it. He offered to come down here, but he and mom are still weird with each other after the divorce and everything. They try to act civil, but it's still weird."

"Well, he's still in love with her," I murmured.

"Yeah, anyway I don't want him to have to come out here because he'll be uncomfortable and hotels pretty much suck balls. Sooo..." she took a deep breath. "Iwannagotoforksforspringbreak."

"I'm sorry, what?" I sat up a little.

"I'm thinking about going to Forks for Spring Break," Bella explained slowly, her eyes downcast. "I need some closure that even the best grief counselor here can't give me. I need to see Billy and I need to visit them. I couldn't before, but now I feel that I can't fully let go of the guilt until I do that. Why are you being so quiet? You think it's a ridiculous idea?"

"No, baby. I'm so proud of you." I kissed her surprised 'O' shaped mouth. "I think it's a really good idea and I'm going to miss you."

"Well that's the thing." She sat up so that we were almost nose to nose. "Rose told me that she and Emmett are planning on going somewhere for Spring Break and Alice is going off with her chorus group thingy down at Disneyland. Since you're gonna be alone, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me? I mean, you can say no, but I'd like you to come with me. You don't even have to answer me now. We have time. Not a lot of time because plane tickets are cheaper if you buy them in advance, even though no one wants to go to Washington for spring break but stil-"

"I'd love to," I cut her off, smiling.

"What?"

"I'd love to spend Spring Break with you and your dad in rainy, dreary Forks, Washington. I have to ask my parents, but I'm pretty sure they aren't going to care."

"Really?" Bella asked in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Are you serious?" she smiled.

"Yes Bella. I'm going to go with you to Forks," I laughed out. "Do you want me to paint you a picture. Should I learn sign language? What will it take to get it through your head that I'd follow you to the end of the world?"

"You're so friggin' cheesy," she laughed, throwing her arms around my neck. "You make me so happy."

"Ditto."

We shared a kiss filled with as much love as we could muster. We didn't have to say it. We knew.

My cast was removed two weeks before Spring Break. The insurance finally came through and Bella accompanied my father and I to the dealership where I picked out the same Volvo I had before. They didn't have it in silver, so I decided to go for a sleek black. Later that week, when it arrived at the house, I went and picked Bella up from her house and we drove down a dirt road and made out until our lips were numb. After the cast was removed, I was finally able to hold my girlfriend properly, something I'd been dying to do.

We'd managed to convince my parents into letting me go to Forks. My dad took me aside after we initially asked them and gave me the safe sex talk, despite my argument that things weren't like that between us. Even so, he wasn't comfortable sending me off for a week with my girlfriend without a giant box of condoms and spermicidal lubricant. Later that night I told Bella what had happened and she pulled out a small baggy of some herb that she said her mother been trying to force feed her that would prevent pregnancy, despite the fact that Renee had been taking it when she got pregnant with Bella.

Alice was doing better. She returned to school after her week and threw herself into schoolwork and chorus, staying late for tutoring and going in early for practice. She eventually forgave me, even though I hadn't done anything, but I couldn't argue because she was talking to me again. She started hanging out in the library with a few of her friends from chorus instead of coming to lunch and when she was in the hallway, she purposely went another route to steer clear from Jasper. She wasn't her bubbly self anymore and she could care less about her appearance, a trait that I'd always believed would follow her to her grave. Nowadays, she spent less time in front of the mirror in the bathroom than I did. Jasper broke up with Maria the day after Alice returned to school.

"Hey babe, did you pack enough warm socks? It's freezing in Forks compared to here," Bella asked, tossing her carry-on bag into the back seat of my new Volvo.

"Yes, I did," I answered, laughing at the giant winter coat she had hanging over her arm.

"You laugh now, but just wait. I grew up there and I'm still not used to it. You've grown up in the sun; you're going to freeze your ass off."

"I guess you'll have to keep me warm." I waggled my eyebrows.

"Oh god! You have to stop hanging out with Emmett!" she giggled.

We'd already said goodbye to Renee when I picked Bella up earlier in the day. She gave us each a small herb pillow she'd sewn that was supposed to bring us home safely or something. I'm pretty sure I saw Bella toss hers out the window as we drove down the highway. My mom insisted that we come back to the house to eat lunch before heading to the airport. She made sure that we were thoroughly stuffed before deeming us ready to travel. She hugged the both of us and went to her room sniffling the entire way, so we decided to make a quick escape.

"You ready?" I asked.

"Yep!" Bella beamed.

Bella and I had a rule that we wouldn't listen to music when we were together in the car. Instead we talked about the most random things. Topics were casually thrown around quickly and there wasn't a dull moment the entire drive to the airport.

We parked in the short term parking lot and walked hand in hand into the airport to retrieve our tickets. I laughed when Bella grimaced when we had to take our shoes off at security. She muttered the entire time about germs and athlete's foot as she walked through the metal detectors. I almost dropped to the floor when she pulled a fresh pair of socks out of her bag and changed the ones she'd been wearing, before putting on her shoes.

We didn't have to wait long before our seats were called. After an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, Bella won the window seat. We shared iPods during the flight and played cards with a tiny little travel pack she'd thought to bring. We'd managed to get a straight flight to Washington without having to worry about layovers, so the flight was long. Bella fell asleep while I watched _The Nightmare Before Christmas,_ which she had downloaded onto her iPod. The pilot came on over the intercom to inform us that we'd be descending shortly and that we needed to put our seatbelts on, so I shook Bella awake, chuckling at the sleep marks that marred the side of her face.

"What's so funny?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"Nothing, beautiful. We're landing soon though, so you need to put your seatbelt on."

"'Kay," she yawned, doing as she was told before leaning back against me. "Planes always make me sleepy."

"Yeah, I noticed. You wasted a window seat, that's what you did," I accused.

"Whatever," she smiled.

Thirty minutes later we exited the plane and headed for the baggage claim. Bella gripped my hand tightly because she was afraid she'd lose me in the throng of people trying to get their bags. We'd just managed to get our bags off the conveyer belt when Bella squealed and let go of my hand. I watched her run to an older man dressed in a police uniform. His Chuck Norris moustache was almost comical as he swung his teenage daughter in the air, pulling her into a fierce hug and talking the entire time.

"I'm so glad to see you, kid," he said, setting her on her feet and making sure that she was steady.

"I'm glad to see you too, daddy." Bella kissed his cheek before turning back to me. "Edward, come here."

I pulled both suitcases over to the duo and Bella grabbed my arm. "Daddy, this is my boyfriend, Edward Cullen. Edward, this is my dad, Charlie Swan."

"Mr. Swan," I greeted, holding my hand out for him to shake.

Instead he looked down at my hand as if I'd just wiped my nose or something and looked up at me. "That's Chief Swan to you boy."

_Oh shit!_

**I'm trying to write for my new story... it's going to be humorous and light... I'm also watching My Sister's Keeper.. it's sad and I've been crying since the beginning. :( don't think Ashley will be writing today**_  
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	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**This is the last chapter. Brought to you via stolen internets while I slave away at work. :) I hope you guys like it cause yep yep yep... it's the end. Of course there will be an epi as well..  
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**Chapter Sixteen**

"My apologies," I stammered, letting my hand drop to my side. "Chief Swan."

"Daddy, stop being such a dick., Bella scolded, swatting her father in the chest.

I don't know what surprised me more. The way Chief Swan welcomed me or the way Bella was talking with her father. I stood there awkwardly while the two of them stared each other down. It lasted for about a minute before Bella cracked a smile and the Chief's booming laughter made me jump in surprise. A few people glared as they walked by and I'm sure I heard a baby cry, so his loud guffawing didn't scare just me.

Bella pulled my hand up and placed it in her dad's as he calmed down. "It's good to meet you, Edmund. I was just fucking with you. You can call me Charlie." He gave me a kind smile and squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It's Edward, dad." Bella corrected. "Not Edmund, Ed or Eddie. _Edward._"

"Yes ma'am," Charlie mumbled sarcastically before letting go of my hand. "Let's get out of here. People are starting to stare and it's making me feel uncomfortable."

"Yeah, because you just hate attention." Bella rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. "My dad is the king of karaoke night at The Lodge. He's an attention hog and loves to make an ass out of himself."

"Only when it comes to embarrassing you, Bells. Speaking of karaoke night, we're going tomorrow night. I've already told the guys at the station that I'm not to be bothered and I just had my suit dry-cleaned," he smiled wickedly.

"We're going to be busy," Bella groaned, rolling her head towards me. "Trust me when I say you'd choose a lobotomy over karaoke night."

"I think it sounds like fun," I told her, shrugging my shoulders, trying to get on the Chief's good side even though he seemed pretty cool. Bella glared at me while Charlie whooped loudly and started doing what I'm guessing was his very own touchdown celebratory dance in the middle of the airport. I'm positive that if we weren't in baggage claim, security would have come and taken Charlie into the little interrogation room, _Meet the Parents_ style. From the horrified look Bella was giving her father, I'm pretty sure she would have left him there.

"Let's go take your medication, dad," she said loudly, giving apologetic looks to the people passing by. We finally made it out to the parking garage, bags in tow. Bella laughed at me when I yelped as the cold air hit me. Charlie offered me his police jacket, which I politely declined. I couldn't tell if it was a test or not, and from the way he'd been acting, I'm sure I'd never live it down had I taken him up on his offer.

Bella wrapped her arm around my waist and whispered her promises to warm me up later as we tried to find the car, the car being a police issued cruiser, complete with the red and blue lights on top and about a million buttons on the dashboard. Charlie and Bella argued for a good ten minutes about where Bella would sit, while I sat in the back seat separated from the front by the steel barrier. Bella wanted to sit up front with him, but he wanted her to sit in the back like a criminal. The argument was resolved when I told Bella that I wanted her to sit in the back with me to keep warm. They'd been fighting forever and I was freezing my nuts off in the backseat because Charlie hadn't started the car yet.

"Hands where I can see them boy," he threatened half-heartedly as we made our way down the gloomy streets. "Don't make me pull out my handcuffs."

"Dad..." Bella warned.

"Oh, is that something you like to do? Eww, never mind. I don't want to know," Charlie back pedalled and started talking to himself about not wanting to hear about his daughter's sex life.

"Eww, dad! Stop it please!" Bella pleaded, burrowing her head into my neck. I could feel the heat of her embarrassment on my skin. "This is ridiculous."

"I think it's fun," I whispered. "I can see why he and your mom got together. They're both absolutely insane."

"Well, we all can't have perfect families," Bella giggled. "Seriously, your family is straight out of a magazine or something."

"Hey, hey, hey! Secrets don't make friends," Charlie pouted. "Unless it's personal. Then I don't want to know."

"We're just talking, dad," Bella sighed.

"Well, you get to talk and hang out all the time. Include your old man."

"Oh, we're just talking about how we're going to sneak off to the courthouse and elope the first chance we get," Bella snorted.

"Hmm... well I'm off for the next three days, but Wednesday I have to go into the station from noon till midnight," he pondered, before smiling widely, his moustache shaking in excitement. "Or better yet we can just swing by the little chapel on the outskirts of town right now. How bout it?"

I was starting to realize that Charlie Swan could not be taken seriously. At all. I was positive until Charlie pulled over on the side of the road and got out. He then walked over to my door and opened it up, while I froze in fear thinking he was going to leave me in the middle of nowhere.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked curiously.

"I'm letting Edward drive home. My legs hurt," he shrugged, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the cruiser. "Keep it under eighty-five."

"No!" Bella cried at the same time I started to refuse, but her reasons were entirely different. "That's not fair! You never let me drive the cruiser."

"Oh, hush you." Charlie said. "This is my way of interrogating your boyfriend. Or should I wait until we get back to the house and I can pull out my hunting rifles?"

"Do it now," Bella and I said at the same time. My reply came out as a yelp, hers a sigh of defeat.

Charlie sat next to me in the front of the cruiser. My hands were shaking like a leaf as I twisted the key in the ignition, firing the car up. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was scared shitless. Charlie pointed out a couple of things on the dashboard, showing me how to properly turn the lights and siren on, even though I had no plans on using them. As soon as I pulled off the shoulder on the road, he started with the questions.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?"

"Dad!" Bella protested from the backseat.

"Um... to date her?" I answered. "Maybe go to prom."

Charlie snorted. "Good luck with that. Bella's got two left feet. Inherited it from me sadly. Where you going after graduation?"

"I want to be a teacher. I plan on going to the community college in town before moving onto a university."

"What grade?"

"Elementary," I replied, watching the road intently, scared out of my wits that I would wreck this car or god forbid get pulled over.

"So you like kids?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Are you planning on knocking my daughter up?"

"Dad!" Bella yelled, punching the barrier.

"I don't plan on having children until I've already gotten an established career," I replied coolly.

"So you're admitting that you're sexually active with my daughter?"

"NO!" Bella and I yelled at the same time. I could hear her pulling on the steel bars between us.

"Good. Now pull over here, Edward," Charlie instructed, pointing to an empty 7-Eleven parking lot. "Chinese fire drill!" he screamed before jumping out of the car.

And just like that. A nerve wracking interrogation turned into something completely ridiculous. I had a feeling that this spring break was going to be chaotic.

Two days later, Bella and I were sitting in the old Chevy truck she used to drive before she came to live with her mother. We had gotten off to a late start today because Charlie kept us out at The Lodge until four in the morning, while we watched him make an ass out of himself. He dressed in a black zoot suit and impersonated The King very, very badly. We were forced to endure three hours of people singing badly, but every time Charlie got on the stage, it was a riot. He sang 'Hound Dog', 'Heartbreak Hotel' and a few I can't remember, partially because I was practically on the floor in hysterics.

I was glad that we'd had fun the night before because now Bella was suffering. She sat two feet away from me on the bench seat, wearing all black. Laying on the seat between us was a giant bouquet of hydrangeas. Her eyes were closed and she was shaking with anxiety. Seeing her in this state of distress reminded me of her first day of school, minus all of the bruises, cuts and the crutches.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" I asked softly, taking her hand in mine. "We could always go see Billy first and then come back."

"No. I want to do it this way," she replied, grabbing the flowers from the seat and opening her door before turning to me. "You're coming right?"

"Where else would I go?"

It was raining lightly in Forks. Something I'd grown used to in the three days I'd been here. Everything was green and as we made our way through the cemetery, I noticed that many of the tombstones were covered almost completely with algae-like growth. Bella had a death grip on my hand as we made our way through the rows reading the stones as we went.

I found what we were looking for before Bella. As soon as she noticed the giant dual tombstone, she froze almost taking a step back as the air was knocked out of her. Vanessa and Jacob's graves were covered with flowers, not one wilted or dead, so it was obvious that someone came daily to visit them. Bella let go of my hand and walked up to the stone, resting her hand on top of it with her head bowed. She spoke softly to them before placing the bouquet of flowers between the two of them and kneeling on the ground. I watched her talk softly as she pulled the necklace that held the engagement ring Jacob had left with her for safe keeping out of her shirt. She unclasped it and slid the ring off of the chain.

"Jake would want you to have this," Bella cried, digging a shallow hole in the spot above where Vanessa was buried and dropping the ring inside before covering it back up. She then stood up wiped her hands on her pants. "I can let the two of you go now, but I promise that I will never forget you, and I'll come see you again. I promise."

She cried for a while longer before kissing her hand and placing it over each of their names. Turning to me, her eyes swollen and red from crying, she smiled despite all of the pain coursing through her. I held my hand out for her to take and together we walked out of the cemetery.

"That hurt a lot more than I thought it would," she sniffed, wiping her nose with a tissue from the glove compartment.

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

The rest of our trip flew by. Bella introduced me to Billy Black. They had an emotional reunion, but it quickly turned to sentimental and sweet. I listened to them share stories of her childhood with his son and we learned that Vanessa's parents had moved. They weren't able to cope with the loss of their only child in such a small town, so almost overnight, they snuck away without telling anyone where they were going. Billy said it was like he woke up one morning and they were gone. The house across the street vacant except for the 'for sale' sign in the front yard. He'd tried to get a hold of them, but gave up, respecting their choice in grieving manner.

Charlie dropped us off at the airport, giving us both giant hugs and, much to my despise, kisses. He mentioned something about coming down to spend some time with Bella, refusing to miss her graduation, so we'd be seeing him in less than two months. I was looking forward to it.

Everyone returned to school the following Monday. Alice had bad sunburn, almost to the point that she had sun poisoning from her Disneyland vacation. Her chorus group won second place and she was proud of the small trophy she received in the mail a few days after she came home. Our bathroom smelled like Easter eggs for a week because of the vinegar baths she had to take to try to calm her burning skin, and she was completely miserable when she started to peel, claiming that she'd rather burn than itch all of the time.

She started eating lunch with us again in the cafeteria and actually tried to join in on conversations with the group, even though she had her moments. She no longer tried to avoid Jasper, but they still hadn't talked. Emmett and Rose ended up being shown on _MTV's Spring Break Special_ on TV, resulting in them coming home as celebrities. Everyone wanted to talk to them after seeing them on TV, but they just shrugged and told people that they'd had fun and that they'd definitely do it again.

Prom was a disaster. It rained the entire night, ruining Alice's expensive dress and resulting in her crying almost the entire night over it. She didn't go with a date and Jasper didn't show up at all. Emmett got wasted less than twenty minutes in on the spiked punch, so Rose took him home, pissed as hell. The captain of the football team and head cheerleader were crowned Prom Queen and King but that was no surprise to anyone. Bella and I danced three dances before she twisted her ankle in the high heels that Alice forced her into and we spent the rest of the night dressed fancy in the hospital waiting room, waiting for her to be seen.

We had study parties before the five of us took our SAT test. The week of finals were hectic, everyone scrambling to get last minute projects done and cram for the exams that would depict whether or not we'd graduate. Bella and I had almost every class together, so we were able to spend time with each other, even if it was to study until our vision blurred and our heads pounded. The last day of finals was also the last day of school for seniors.

A group of boys were arrested the following morning, before graduation practice could take place, for their version of a senior prank. All we found out was that it involved every fire extinguisher in the school and the cafeteria. We practiced the ceremony three times before they deemed us perfect enough and released us for a few hours to go home and get ready. Bella went with Rose and Alice to get their hair and nails done for the ceremony, while I went out to lunch with Jasper and Emmett.

Dressed in our dark blue cap and gowns, the girls in white, we all waited for our names to be called and walked across the stage to receive our diplomas. Charlie had arrived just in time and, much to Bella's dismay, brought with him an air horn, blowing it obnoxiously when her name was called. The girls cried when we finally met up after tossing our caps into the air.

We'd all received our college acceptance letters in the previous weeks. Rose and Emmett were headed to California for filming school, claiming that they'd be the next Michael Bay. Alice was going to a local cosmetology school for hair and makeup. Jasper had informed us that he was staying close to home to intern at a local tattoo shop. Bella had received a letter from a school in Florida, offering her an entire scholarship for the classes that she would have to take to make her dream possible. My plans to just go to the community college in town had been thwarted and completely forgotten when I received a scholarship and acceptance letter to UAA (University of Alaska Anchorage). It would be hard, but after a long discussion with Bella, we decided to try a long distance relationship.

Fifty blue and fifty white helium filled balloons floated into the sky as the crowd cheered for the graduates. A pair of familiar arms wrapped around my waist and I turned to find my beautiful girlfriend smiling up to me.

"I LOVE YOU, EDWARD CULLEN!" she squealed loudly over the loud noise around us.

"I LOVE YOU, TOO, BELLA SWAN!" I yelled just as loudly before kissing her.

It had been the first time we said those three little words aloud to each other and it couldn't have been more perfect.

**see you tomorrow ladies. the epilogue is one of my favorites so far of all my stories on this site :) Thanks everyone I love you all!**

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	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I don't own it**

**EPILOGUE**

"Alright, Kayla. What did you get for number four?" I asked the tiny little girl sitting in the front row by the door.

"Umm... fourteen?" she asked, her small voice barely audible, despite the class being entirely quiet.

"Very good!" I praised, throwing a sugar-free Jolly Rancher over to her.

I'd been teaching for almost six months now and I loved it. As soon as I graduated, I started sending my credentials to all of the elementary schools in the southern area. It took me a year and a half, but I finally got an offer at a school two hours from my home town. When they informed me that I'd be teaching second grade math and science, I was a little skeptic. I'd wanted reading and language arts, but they didn't have any openings. I went through all of the meetings and training for a month before school was in session.

On my first day, a little boy peed his pants and then threw up on me. I was ready to quit. I even started to pack my desk up when a little girl walked up to my desk and held her hand out. Nestled between her little fingers was a partially melted Hershey's kiss. "You look like you could use this more than me. Momma says chocolate always makes people smile," she said, placing it on top of my planner before walking back to her desk in the front row by the door. Kayla was my favorite student, the one that showed me that I could do it, but I'd never admit it.

"Mr. Cullen?" Jared asked, raising his chubby hand. "When do we get to go out for recess?"

"Well, it's raining, so we don't get to go out today." The class groaned. "Am I that boring?" I jokingly asked. "I mean, I was thinking we'd play silent speed-ball, but I guess we can sit quietly and read out of our science books."

The class erupted in protest, begging for silent speed-ball.

The Jolly Ranchers were a fellow teacher's idea. The kids seemed to learn better when they had an incentive, so I went to the local Costco and bought a giant thirty pound bag of the little hard candies. It was the best hundred dollars I'd ever spent. My students were now learning at a higher rate than any of the other second graders in the school.

A five dollar rubber band ball was another smart investment; silent speed-ball on a rainy day was genius. It kept everyone on alert waiting for the ball to be lobbed towards them. The rubber band ball was soft enough that it bounced off the windows, so we didn't have to worry about breaking anything. It was called 'silent' for a reason. If you so much as squeaked during play, you had to sit out till the next round, so we never got complaints from the surrounding teachers.

"Fine. Marty, get the ball out of the cabinet please. We'll start our recess a couple of minutes early. Every one stand up and put your books in your desk. Push your chairs in," I instructed, placing my coffee cup on the floor under my desk for safe keeping. We all chose our spots wisely and before long there was a bright colored ball flying around the room. I always ended up being the favorite of the game and more often than not, the ball would be thrown to me. As the teacher I was allowed to speak and sometimes I had to speak up and remind the kids to play fairly.

I'd just tossed the ball to Kayla for the second time since the game started when I heard my phone vibrating in the top drawer of my desk.

"Time out!" I gave the signal, rushing over to my desk. "You can play, but don't throw it at me." The game proceeded as I pulled my phone out and went to stand by the window to insure that I'd have good reception.

"Hello?"

"It's time," Rose said. "You need to get here because it's happening fast. She's sort of freaking out, so you might want to hurry."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes. Um... just tell her to keep her legs clamped shut," I rambled, gathering my briefcase and my jacket.

"Don't drive reckless. Love yah! Bye!" she sang, hanging up the phone. After instructing everyone to sit in their seats, I ran across the hall to Mrs. Bun's classroom. She was the reading and English teacher, so I wasn't surprised to find her class playing hangman during their indoor recess. As soon as the door opened, she looked up and gave me a warm smile.

"Edward, I take it it's time?" she stood up.

"Yeah, it's happening faster than anticipated and I have to go, like now. Can you grab the kids for me?" I rushed through my sentence.

"Of course. Be careful and tell her congratulations from me," she patted my arm.

The drive to the hospital was quick. I maneuvered my trusty Volvo down the almost dead streets, speeding up when I saw opportunity. I parked in a doctor's parking spot and ran into the hospital and all the way up to the maternity floor. Rose and Emmett were sitting outside of a room, their daughter, Michelle, playing with her Barbies on the floor between them. As soon as they saw me, they both stood with sad smiles on their faces.

"I'm too late?" I gasped, trying to catch my breath from the two flights of stairs I'd just sprinted up.

"Yep, about nineteen minutes. Right after I hung up with you, she said she couldn't wait and they had her start pushing," Rose explained. "She's been asking for you though, so knock before heading in."

"Thanks for being here," I said, kissing Michelle on her cheek before rushing over to the door and knocking softly.

"Come in," I heard before opening the door.

"Hi. I'm sorry we couldn't wait."

"It's fine," I replied, shaking my head. "I'm sorry I'm late. I really wanted to be here."

"Eh, shit happens. Do you want to hold her?"

"Of course. Let me wash my hands," I explained, walking over to the tiny sink. When Michelle was born, we all learned proper hygiene when it came to babies. I washed my hands thoroughly and dried them off before walking over to the bed. The only thing I could see under the swaddled pink and white was a pair of big dark blue, almost black, eyes squinting at me almost angry like, and a puff of strawberry blond hair.

"Looks like she's going to have my hair huh?" I joked, picking her up as carefully as I could.

"Yep. We can thank grandpa for that," Alice yawned, lying back against the bed completely exhausted. "I swear your first born better come out looking just like me."

"That's not something I can promise, Ali," I laughed, looking down at the bundle in my arms. "Hi there. I'm Uncle Edward."

"She knows who you are, loser," Alice laughed tiredly. "That hurt like hell. Even with the epidural."

"I can't imagine," I chuckled. "So are you going to tell me her name now?"

"Edelyne Grace Whitlock," Alice smiled. "After her uncle, of course."

"Alice," I groaned. "You can't be serious."

"I am," Alice said, sitting up her eyes filling with tears. "Without you, I don't know what I would have done. You've been here for me the entire time and I can't thank you enough. Let me do this because it's the least I can do."

"Alice."

"Oh shut the hell up, Edward. I already signed the papers, so get over it," she sniffled. "I wish he was here." Jasper and Alice were the only ones that stayed in town after graduation. They continued to avoid each other for a solid three months. After running into each other at the coffee house Alice was working at during the weekends when she wasn't in school, Jasper convinced her into a date. Their relationship was stronger than ever after that, as if the entire debacle hadn't happened.

Jasper opened his own tattoo shop two years later and business was booming. Alice stopped working at the coffee house and quickly picked up piercing for him, but the business fell through a few months before she graduated from cosmetology school. Jasper started working at the shop that he interned at after high school and proposed to Alice the day she graduated, refusing to let the failed business hinder their happiness. They decided on a long engagement, but things changed when Alice became pregnant a few months before I received my hiring papers.

Jasper convinced himself that he couldn't raise a baby on a hair stylist and a tattoo artist's salary, and after a lot of deliberation, he enrolled in the navy. They thought they would have time before he was whisked away, but with training and everything, he'd missed almost everything. The money he was making made it all worth it. They were married two weeks before he was deployed overseas and the only communication they'd had since then was via cell phone or webcam. Alice was staying on the base in Texas, but when Jasper was deployed, she decided to move home to be around our parents. I accompanied her to all of her doctor's appointments and checkups, but she wanted her husband and Edelyne's father here instead. If I could, I'd switch places with him at this moment.

"I know, Alice." I sat at the foot of her bed with my niece in my arms. "She's beautiful. Just like her momma."

"Thanks. I feel a little less than beautiful right now," she sighed. "Sort of like a deflated balloon. I can't wait to hit the gym." We shared a laugh before Edelyne started crying. Alice hit the nurse page button and I excused myself so that the nursing assistant could help her set up for their first feeding.

Emmett had Michelle on his shoulder, her crinkly curly blond hair a giant mess as she slept, drooling down her father's shoulder. Rose was flipping through a camera catalog. They'd gone to school together for film and directing, but Rose was the only one able to succeed. She'd done a bunch of low key movies when she found her niche in commercializing. After they eloped in a small chapel they decided they wanted a baby and Michelle arrived eight months later. Emmett decided that filming wasn't for him, and Rose made more than enough money with her career, so he became Mr. Mom. He started a small daycare in their home and babysat ten children from around the neighborhood after school or while their parents were at work.

"How's she doing?" Emmett asked, toying with his phone.

"Fine. She's missing Jasper a lot, but they are both doing fine. Did she tell you what she named her?"

"Yeah. That poor kid," Rose snorted. "How are you doing? I was worried about your drive over here after I hung up."

"Good. It was a little hectic and I was still too late, but we can't change things can we?" I shrugged.

We sat together in the hallway. Michelle woke up and asked for hot chocolate. Rose pawned her off to me, so with a handful of quarters, we headed down to the cafeteria. She swung on my arm like a little monkey jabbering about her new little baby she was going to play with as soon as mommy let her in to see Aunty Alice. I just chuckled and tried to keep up with her once she ran off. She had just made it to the double doors leading to the cafeteria when she ran into a short, brown haired woman wearing hot pink scrubs. Immediately the woman picked up Michelle swinging her in her arms while the tot giggled away.

"Aunty Bella!" she sang as Bella kissed her cheek.

"Hi Miss Michelle. I heard you had a baby? Boy or a girl?" Bella asked, sending me a smile.

"Yep, her's is a girl. And I'm gonna dress her up just like Aunty Alice dressed me up when I'sa baby," Michelle rambled, jumping around as soon as Bella sat her on her dainty feet.

"Wow! Sounds exciting! I remember when you were just a little baby. I would hold you in my arms and you'd just fart all over my arm." Bella crinkled her cute nose.

"Ew, that's gross. Momma said girls don't fart. We fluff," Michelle corrected.

"Well then, you fluffed all over me," Bella laughed. "Are you going to buy me some hot chocolate?"

"I dunno. Uncle Ed do you have enough quarters?" Michelle asked thoughtfully.

"I'm sure we do," I nodded. Michelle decided that she was old enough to get her own, so we stood a few feet behind her and supervised while she placed the quarters into the slot and pressed the button. She chose cappuccino accidentally, so I took that one, not wanting Rose to kick my ass when she found out her kid had caffeine.

"How's Alice doing?" Bella asked, bumping my shoulder with hers. "I didn't find out they were here until after the baby was here and this is the first break I've had in twelve hours. I hope she doesn't think ill of me. Without caffeine, there is no way I'm going to last another twelve hours," she yawned loudly, covering her mouth with her hand.

"She's good. The baby is beautiful. Edelyne Grace Whitlock."

Bella snorted into her hand. "I didn't think she was going to take me serious."

"You're the one that gave her that name?" I asked incredulously.

"Well yeah. We were talking one night and she said she wanted to pay tribute," Bella shrugged. Michelle kicked the machine, screaming for it to give her more marshmallows, so Bella stepped in, grabbing her by the hand and leading her over to the small nurse's lounge that was attached to the cafeteria. I watched as they filled Michelle's cup the rest of the way with marshmallows out of a bag from the pantry.

Bella hadn't been in school for less than two weeks before she called me crying over a little girl who'd been hit by a car outside the apartment she lived in during college. Bella had witnessed the entire thing and did everything she could, holding the little girl while the driver ran and left her to die. The ambulance had arrived a few minutes too late. The little girl died in Bella's arms and it hit her hard. I offered to come down and be with her, but she declined.

Two weeks later she was changing her classes and going into nursing. She believed that had she been properly trained, she would have been able to save the little girl. Despite the fact that the girl's parents had told her otherwise. The little girl wouldn't have lived even if she'd been hit by the car right in front of the hospital. Her injuries were too serious. She graduated with a nursing license and started working for the hospital in Florida that she did most of her on the job training.

We continued our long distance relationship the entire time. Not once did we question the other or the fact that we lived clear across the United States. As soon as I graduated and returned home trying to find a job, Bella told me that she wasn't signing a contract with the hospital and that she wanted to be where I was.

When I got my job at the elementary school, she contacted the hospital in town and two months later, she moved from her small apartment into the tiny house I'd started renting once I came back. We made up for lost time, enjoying a month of nothing but each other, ordering out and refusing to leave the house, more like leaving the bed or answer the phone.

When Alice moved home, she started staying at our house on the weekends to give my parents a break. Alice wasn't a polite pregnant woman; her hormones deviated quicker than you could blink. One second crying, the next screaming her head off, then back to bawling before you could even try to console her. It only grew worse when she realized that Jasper wouldn't be back in time for the birth. With Bella by my side we managed. Turning the small spare bedroom in our house into a bedroom/nursery for Alice and the baby. We moved all of her stuff out of my parent's house and offered her a place to stay until Jasper returned.

"What are you smiling 'bout, dork?" Michelle asked, jumping into my lap. Bella laughed and sat the marshmallow filled cup on the table.

"I'm happy, geek. What are you smiling about?" I pulled a messy curl.

"'Cause I just had a baby," she said, ending her sentence with an eye roll. Definitely Rose's child.

"Oh, well, I guess that would make me smile, too."

"Then why don't you and Aunty Bella have a baby?" she asked, bouncing a little as she sipped her hot chocolate. Bella snorted and coughed on her drink, getting up to get a napkin to wipe her nose.

We'd talked about getting married, starting a family and living the American Dream. We wanted to do it the smart way, so once I had been working at the school for three years and Bella at the hospital for the same amount of time, we'd start planning our wedding.

Just like Bella made the first move asking me out on a date all those years ago, she also jumped the gun about proposing. I'd come home surprised to find all of her bags in the living room and found her sitting on my bed. She wasn't supposed to arrive for another three days, but she said she was too excited. She got down on one knee and asked me to marry her. I said yes. _Obviously. _After we get married, Bella would stop birth control and we'd see what hand life dealt us.

"Someday, princess," Bella answered simply, sending me a sly wink.

"Someday," I agreed.

**Aw, thanks everyone for your warm thoughts and comments :) Keep an eye out for my new story. Involves a Countryward :) Consider yourself warned **

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	18. Author's Note

**For those of you that don't have me on your alert's I've gotten a Twitter to keep up with everything and everyone so come find me (at) PandorasFF**

**I also got a blog because one of my stories was deleted without any warning making me extremely sad and more than a little paranoid. My blog will consist of all of my stories once they are Beta'd as well as a few incomplete projects in hopes that some positivity will give me the oomph I need to complete them **

** pandorasboxisheavy(dot)blogspot(dot)com/**

**I also just got an account at AO3 and will start posting over there as well once I figure out the logistics.**

**My account is under PandorasBoxIsHeavy so come find me over there too :D **

**And last but not least if you haven't checked out my new story Southern Comfort it's already 25 chapters in and on my blog as well**

**See yah soon lovelies **

**XOXO Ashley**

**I will delete this message in a couple of days I just wanted to give everyone a heads up with what's going on**


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